Apocryphal Hero
by SteelBlades333
Summary: Shirou gets unexpectedly transported during the Fifth Holy Grail War to the world of Fate/Apocrypha! Getting quickly dragged into a battle between factions for the Greater Grail, Shirou begins his journey as a Hero of Justice by first befriending the homunculi in Yggdmillennia as chaos ensues when the homunculi begin to gain self-awareness and start fighting for their freedom.
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Fate series, or any other series I write about in this site.**

* * *

 _ **Apocryphal Hero**_

 _ **Prologue**_

Echoes of blades clinging and clanging against each other resonated throughout the deserted field of swords as dust continued to fly in the air at the ferocious fight.

"ARCHERRRRRRR! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Rin yelled out in pure rage as she grasped the cage of swords encompassing her tightly while she continued to witness the impossible spectacle.

The said person with white hair and red and black clothing continued his assault without a word as the defender, Shirou, desperately tried to match the Servant's strikes in front of him blow for blow before getting kicked in his vulnerable ribs, sending Shirou flying twenty meters back in the lonely plain of blades as he tumbled over and over again helplessly on the rock and dusty terrain.

"S-Shirou," Saber whispered weakly on the ground as she tried to reach her hand out in her Master's direction, hoping with all her heart that this will not be the tragic end of Emiya Shirou's life and everything they had worked for.

"ARCHER!" Rin yelled without indignation as her eyes blazed with fury.

Archer, without a word, continued to ignore his prior Master as he made his way to the fallen form of his past self.

Shirou stabbed Kanshou into the ground as he tried to get himself back in a standing position while his legs kept failing from under him, constantly slipping in the process as Archer, his executor, continued his approach.

"W-Why are you doing this, Archer?" Shirou asked as he spat out a string of blood. They had just defeated Caster … and now this?!

"Just as you don't approve of me, I don't approve of you," Archer gave an unsatisfying answer, remaining all the more enigmatic to Shirou.

Archer was about to bring down the blade of death onto Shirou before Rin's voice broke through the solemn battlefield.

"Heed my words," mana began to concentrate around Rin as she uttered the words to create a Servant and Master pact in the Grail Wars.

"My will creates your body, and your sword creates my destiny."

Archer's eyes widened at the implications behind the words spoken as Saber lifted her head in realization at what Rin is doing.

"If you heed the Grail's call and reason," Rin continued as Archer quickly blocked an incoming blade coming at his direction as the once kneeling Shirou stood back up once again to attack Archer.

"Then answer me!" Rin shouted as she reached her hands out of her cage of swords to reach for Saber's as Saber lifted her foot and prepared to leap in Rin's direction.

Archer clicked his tongue in annoyance as his face made a gruesome expression of anger at the unexpected development.

"Do so and I will entrust my dest—" Rin was quickly interrupted when a dozen blades projected in the air in front of her as they all fired in her direction at lightning speed. Rin's mouth opened in shock at what is happening, and before a split second has even passed, the barrage of swords whizzed over her, leaving behind a shell-shocked but recovering Rin who had a deliberate shallow cut on her arm from the attack.

Like that, everything was over. Rin has lost her concentration, and consequently, the mana piled and pooled together have now dissipated back to the environment. Leaving behind a panting Rin and a still fatigued Saber beside each other with only a bruised and beaten up Shirou to fend for himself against the powerful Servant.

Archer sighed as he smacked away Shirou's sword as Kanshou left Shirou's hands and tumbled onto the ground with a pitiful clang, leaving a defeated and powerless Shirou who has exhausted all options.

"It's over, Emiya Shirou!" Archer stated with a raised voice as he pointed the blade at Shirou's face.

Shirou gazed up at his future self who he came to realize his identity just a couple minutes ago with resentment and hatred. To think his future self will stoop so low as to regret and attempt to wipe his own existence to the point of putting others in harm is something Shirou can never condone.

"No," Shirou whispered before speaking louder as he faced Archer's eyes with an unwavering and determined expression. "No, it's not over!" Shirou then gave a war cry as he projected once again the twin blades of Ying and Yang.

Archer face twisted in anger as he blocked the incoming strikes before making a counterattack at Shirou's torso which Shirou barely blocked as his projected blades chipped at the force.

"Argh!" Archer roared out as he leaped into the air and slammed the dual blades onto Shirou from over his head while Shirou crossed the twin married blades above him to block the inevitable blow. The desert terrain in the reality marble cratered at the immense force while Shirou's legs threatened to slip from under him at the power exerted by the Servant who isn't even at his full compacity.

Twisting his body around midair, Archer went for Shirou's side as he executed a series of lightning blows that appeared as a blur to the naked eye while Shirou went completely on the defensive at the overwhelming power before him. Right. Left. Top. Down. Beside. Shirou managed to redirect some of the blows, but however, with each blow and minute that prolonged in the battle, Shirou's shape continued to worsen as glancing strikes from Archer made Shirou wince periodically in pain.

Finally, as if an eternity has passed, the seemingly infinite number of blows came to a stop as Shirou panted from exhaustion with blood dripping everywhere from his body. If Shirou didn't die from Archer's soon to be fatal blow, then Shirou would definitely die from blood loss if he doesn't do something quick about it.

"This is the end, Emiya Shirou. This is the result behind the failure of the ideals you borrowed that were never yours!" Archer roared as half a hundred blades came out of the desert landscape and began floating in the air, forming a straight line above Archer with all the blades directed at the tattered form of Shirou as the blades vibrated and glowed with energy.

"ARCHER!" Rin yelled out in rage as she repeatedly punched her fist on the steel cage without care for her own wellbeing.

"SHIROU!" Saber yelled as she attempted to stand up only to fall once more.

Lowering his raised hand as if signaling the blades, swords of all calibers and kinds obeyed Archer's command as they rained down from the sky onto Shirou.

Shirou, looking at the impossible obstacle before him, nevertheless stood back up once again as he made his last stand.

"ARGH!" Shirou shouted aloud as he swung his right blade down on a flying projectile with pinpoint accuracy as Shirou smashed the second projection into oblivion and redirected its fatal path.

Re-projecting the dual Chinese swords, Shirou went on the offensive as he continued to swing his blades as fast as his reinforced muscle would allow him.

Finally, a flying sword made past through his defenses as it stabbed mercilessly into Shirou's thigh as Shirou involuntarily knelt down on one knee in pain. Shirou could dimly hear the alarmed cries of the friends he came to treasure, however, Shirou was given no time to think as more blades continued to rain down from above.

Without hesitation, Shirou diverted a blade away from him as he smacked the next one with his right sword. A dozen swords later which passed by in just a split second, another blade dug into Shirou's right arm, making his grip on the projected blade inevitably slacken as more swords came shooting out at him with supersonic speeds.

Futilely trying to beat the man in front of him, Shirou brought up his left blade only to have his wrist pierced and severed completely by the next projection.

"Ah," Shirou groaned as he gritted his teeth, bearing the overwhelming pain that would have already sent any normal man into the sweet bliss of unconsciousness.

It was over. There was nothing more he can do. For the sake of defeating Archer and surviving for the sake of himself and his friends, Shirou has tried everything he can do. Giving a last glancing smile at Saber and Rin as both of their eyes widened in horror when a blade shot out towards him, Shirou received the killing blow as the next blade punctured through his heart without resistance.

Nothing happened for a couple seconds as a stunned and agonizing silence dragged on before Shirou. With blood slowly dripping out his mouth, Shirou began to cough up pools of blood in front of him before he dropped down to his knees as he collapsed onto the ground.

"S-Shir-rou," Rin stuttered in disbelief as she covered her mouth with her hands as trails of tears made its way down her face without stopping.

Saber, too, was also in a state of disbelief as she gripped Excalibur with all the strength she could muster as her eyes too, began to moist and tears slowly came out of her eyes involuntarily due to the immense pain and sorrow to see her Master, but more importantly, a friend lying beaten and dead.

"A-Archer," Shirou whispered aloud as blood continued to flow out of his body without rest. "even b-before d-d-death, I know m-my b-borrowed ide-eals are w-worth d-dying for!"

Suddenly, as if Shirou's words acted as a catalyst or trigger of some sort, a black spot formed on Shirou's heart as it slowly expanded, continuously growing larger and larger in size while the gaping hole sucked everything in its path like an unending vortex.

"Impossible!" Archer exclaimed in disbelief. "The Grail?!"

The now black hole, as if acting as the very force that's power only exists far away in the cosmos, the hole began to suck everything in its path as Archer had trouble escaping from the clutches of the Grail's luring force.

"A-ah … AHHHH!" Shirou finally yelled out in immense pain that he has never felt before in his life. His Magic Circuits flared to life as he eyes shone and his veins bulged incredibly large at the sheer mana forced into his body, alternatively crushing his very self.

"SHIROU!" Rin yelled out, attempting to save him but to no avail as Rin clenched on her own lifeline by grabbing the cage of swords, her body flying in the wind as the black hole unceasingly sucked the air in the Reality Marble.

Finally, as if the very ground and foundation of the world is being sucked up in the hole, the black hole produced by the Grail gave its final "breath" as the world of swords was sucked up and absorbed away into oblivion inside Shirou's body as Shirou instantly winked away from existence.

Dropping down from her parallel position from the ground, Rin hit the concrete floor side first as Saber laid still staring at the spectacle before her, now both no longer in the plains of swords but back in the partially destroyed basement of the Church.

Archer, standing in front of both Rin and Saber dismissed his dual blades back to pure mana as his back slackened, lowing his guard temporarily.

"W-What was t-that?" Rin stuttered out at the unbelievable sight.

"It's the Grail," Archer answered without a trace of doubt. "Take this from a person who's seen it firsthand before."

"That … can't be the Grail!" Saber spoke aloud in exclamation though it was clear that she is still weak and in pain, both emotionally and physically.

"The Grail's corrupted," Archer continued, seeing no use in hiding the information any longer at this stage.

"But … w-what was t-that? W-where … is Shirou?" Rin asked, her eyes still wide in disbelief and denial as the wet marks on her face remained.

"Nothing matters," Archer spoke evenly with disdain as he turned around to face both Saber and Rin. "Emiya Shirou is gone and I am still bound by my contract. I have no purpose in staying here any longer," Archer announced as he made his way out of the gloomy basement of the church building.

"W-was that … a paradox," Rin continued to brainstorm, desperately hoping to understand what's going on, and if possible, reverse its effect.

Archer paused his footsteps at Rin's mumbling. "Don't bother finding him, Rin," Archer spoke sternly with his back facing them. "He's dead. And if he isn't, the Grail would have destroyed his very identity."

"W-what do y-you mean?"

"If he's alive," Archer continued, "he will be the last enemy you hope to face – the reincarnate of all the world's evil," Archer finally revealed. Back in the timeline he was from, Sakura was used as the vessel of the Holy Grail, if anything similar happened to his past self, Archer was not sure how long will his past self remain himself before the Grail overtakes his mind and drive him to the depths of insanity.

"I-Imp-possible," Rin stuttered out as Saber also opened her mouth in horror at the revelation, both incapable of responding appropriately.

Archer didn't say anything as he resumed his footsteps.

"Archer," a voice said in a deadly whisper.

Turning his head around while looking back at the downcast Rin who is clenching her fists placed on her lap impossibly tight, Rin continued. "I will KILL you!" Rin howled out at the end as indescribable fury etched across her face to reveal the unimaginable agony she is suffering.

Archer eyed Rin for a second longer before breaking eye contact and looking back in front of him. "It doesn't matter," Archer said dismissively. "I will be gone in less than two days."

With that said, Archer left the Church, leaving behind a completely heart-wretched Saber and Rin at their fallen friend whom they have come to treasure.

"I w-will avenge you, S-Shirou," Rin said between chokes as more tears came out of her eyes. "I will avenge you," she whispered again, making a solemn promise to herself.

Saber nodded silently, her eyes full with determination in carrying out the mission as Arturia gripped her blade with the sole thought of obtaining the Grail, undoing all the mistakes that had happened here. And if Archer was not lying about the Grail's truth, Arturia will continue her contract with the World for eternity until she can accomplish her duty and promise as a king and a Servant.

Although things will never be the same again, but Shirou … he will be eternally etched in their hearts as a part of their soul forever, no matter the circumstances or what Fate is going to throw at them.

Shirou had wanted to become a Hero of Justice, but Fate decided to turn the tables on the righteous miracle boy from the Fourth War. Even before death, Shirou had said he will never regret the path he will be taking regardless of the hardships that will surely be coming in his way. That was just the way he is. A man without a sense of self and always putting others before himself.

"You idiot," Rin muttered under her breath before she curled up into a ball in her seated position as she sobbed in the lonely deserted underground basement.

* * *

Illyasviel abruptly woke up from her futon as she panted in fear and horror at what dream she was forced to witness. Looking to her right, Illyasviel noticed a "get well" card saying that Shirou and Rin went out for a quick errand and will be right back. Illyasviel's heart lurched in dread and terror at the implications as she hastily removed the blankets over her that Rin and Shirou had prepared.

"O-Onii-chan," Illyasviel weakly croaked as she crawled on the wooden floor in pain and the lack of strength as she desperately tried to reach the paper thin sliding door before her, "w-where are y-you?"

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 **Thank you for reading and please review!**

 **Please do note that the Shirou here is mostly from the Unlimited Blade Works route with some of the Fate route added into it as seen with Illya's involvement here in the prologue.**

 **Also, please make sure to check out my other stories as well which can be seen in my profile page. The most popular story being Fate Blade Zero, a fiction where Shirou goes back in time to the Fourth Holy Grail War at the end of the Fifth War.** **Details can be read under the description/summary of the story page.** **Thank you very much!** **–** **SteelBlades333**


	2. World of Apocrypha

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the Fate series, or any other series I write about in this site.**

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 _ **Chapter 1 – World of Apocrypha**_

Shirou shot open his eyelids as he inhaled a gasp of air into his lungs. Shirou quickly bolted up from his lying position and straightened up his back as he sat on the ground surveying his new surroundings. With widened eyes, Shirou raised his eyebrows in surprise at the completely different surrounding view than he was expecting.

Instead of the familiar scene of a deserted plain of swords, all around him was what can be best described as an old classical European town as people roamed to and fro among the streets and dirt roads in between the brick made one-story buildings that housed the sparsely populated residents. In short, this is completely opposite from what Shirou would expect in Japan or anywhere in Asia for that matter.

"Where am—" Shirou was interrupted from his self-musing when a piercing pain shot through his heart as he immediately clutched his chest tightly in discomfort.

Finally, the wave of nausea and pain drifted over Shirou as he exhaled a sigh of relief while he cautiously removed his hand away from his chest. Stretching open the collar of his shirt, Shirou peeked into his long-sleeved clothes as he examined the flesh over his heart.

Shirou's eyes widened at the impossible sight as he touched where his heart is again in disbelief. His chest, his heart … was completely healed, beating steadily as if nothing has ever happened. There was not even a speck of blood nor a single scratch on him! The only indication that his fight with Archer ever occurred is the blood-soaked torn clothes he is now wearing with the blood completely dried out by now.

Standing up from his seated position, Shirou blinked a couple of times to get accustomed to the blaring sunlight as he looked over at the horizon.

Where is he? What happened? And how can he get back? These were some of the numerous questions that popped into Shirou's head as he pondered the thoughts over and over again but finding no solution.

Something happened back when Archer's sword stabbed him, but Shirou was too far out of consciousness due to the sudden searing pain that everything during that time seemed to be a blur to him. And the next thing Shirou knew, he was here, lying on the dusted ground of this city.

Stretching his back and loosening up his sore joints, Shirou began to set foot towards the more populated area of the city. And if he was lucky enough, Shirou hoped he would be able to figure out what and where this foreign area was.

Walking left and right around the simple yet confusing intertwining roads of the city, Shirou began to slowly realize how grim his situation is. As far as he understood it, this place is definitely not a popular enough place to provide a nice tour center for foreigners like him who have no idea where they're at with a nice bit of information of this location.

Shirou sat down by a small deserted parking lot beside an inn as a slowly creasing frown made its way up to his face as he crossed his legs and pondered in thought.

None of the people here spoke Japanese, that much he was certain. He is also definitely no longer in Japan as clearly evident from the architecture, language, and people around here. Whatever the phenomenon did to him back in Archer's Reality Marble, it had somehow transported him in what he guessed as somewhere in Europe. The language and the predominant physical traits of the people here indicated that he was most likely in the Western side of the world, opposite of where his home country, Japan, is.

Shirou stood back up as he wiped the dust gathered on the back of his pants off. If he is going to find out about his whereabouts, he needed to get assistance from somebody with some kind high standing around here who may be able to assist him by at least finding someone that speaks the same language as he does. But seeing the very simplistic lifestyle everyone carried themselves with in this foreign city, Shirou doubted a person like that even exists here.

Shifting his gaze unconsciously to the right, Shirou noticed a child around five years of age holding his mother's hand while hopping up and down repeatedly, excitedly pointing somewhere far away in front of him as the mother continued to smile down at her son, making sure he doesn't get carried away with his enthusiasm.

Shirou followed the boy's pointed direction and quickly noticed something he wasn't able to before. Up in an elevated hill far away stood a massive castle with walls encompassing all four corners of it. This is beyond anything Shirou had seen before. Yes, the Einzbern Castle is big in its own right, but this castle put the Einzbern Castle in Fuyuki to shame. The castle before him is a truly formidable and majestic fortress.

Shirou widened his eyes in realization at the implications behind his thought. Big castle is equal to important people, and important people is equal to – hopefully – a way back home. And if this castle isn't meant purely for the aristocrats of this country, then this place is bound to attract some kind of tourism around here. Either way, Shirou could finally begin to see his chances of at least finding a person to communicate with brightening.

Jogging lightly up the hill he was on to get a better overtop view of the castle, Shirou squinted his eyes as he scrutinized the road path from the city, through the forest, and finally to the castle as Shirou quickly jotted and memorized the information down into his mind.

Shifting his gaze upwards to the gradually dimming sky as the sun slowly sank over the horizon, Shirou hummed in thought at whether it is a wise idea to go traveling during the night. But having no money or anything valuable on him, Shirou knew he will not be able to survive for long due to his unfamiliarity of the area and language as he is forced to resort to his last option of walking up to the castle immediately to find some people for help. Judging by the distance from the city to the castle, Shirou estimated it will take at least half a day before he gets to his destination. And Shirou knew he would like to arrive at the castle in broad daylight where the probability of meeting someone is ensured.

Shirou's stomach growled in protest as Shirou looked down at its abdomen. Looks like it was settled, he is going to travel tonight through the patch of forest leading up the way to the massive infrastructure before the next day arrives. To wait any longer will cause trouble down the road, and Shirou needed to save his energy to get back home as fast as possible, especially since the Grail War is still ongoing and Archer is surely still alive somewhere roaming about.

Furthermore, if Archer knew that Shirou is alive, Archer, having only two days left on his existence here in this time, may end up killing Tohsaka out of spite as he once stated to Shirou though Shirou is unsure of the validity behind the man's statement. However, Shirou was not willing to risk precious time to test Archer's words. With time pressing on him, Shirou began to set foot towards the direction of the stone built castle.

* * *

Shirou placed his hand on a tree beside him while his back slouched and his lungs panted for air. The bark of the tree uncomfortably tickled Shirou's skin as he used his other hand to wipe off the sweat gathering on his brows.

Shirou always considered himself to be overall decently fit for his age. Although he knew there was always improvement that can be made, it didn't mean he was a completely inept and weak man. However, after jogging at a steady pace for three hours on end, with ten minutes of walking for every hour he ran, Shirou was wiped out. Never has he done so much consecutive exercise at once.

With his lungs burning, his throat completely parched, and his saliva thickened, Shirou's muscles protested in exhaustive strain as his body threatened to give out from under him.

If only water was readily available nearby, Shirou could have taken a drink from it to replenish his energy. However, such a luxury was not readily available to him.

Straightening up his body as he stretched his uncomfortably tight back and arms, Shirou began to set foot once again towards the far away looming castle up in the pinnacle of the hill before him.

Walking in the deadly night with the biting cold wind freezing his exposed skin relentlessly, Shirou stared stoically ahead of him, detaching himself from the pain and numbness his body suffered. Shirou has long since learned this technique when he first began creating makeshift Magic Circuits from his nerves, the unorthodox process feeling like a hot metal rod being inserted into his spine. To cope with the nauseating and life-threatening pain, Shirou had no other choice but to discipline himself to separate a part of his mind from his body and train his mind on how it conceives pain.

Yes, Shirou did without a doubt still felt the pain. But this method aided him to better handle and cope with it. It is a psychological technique to put it simply.

While traveling up the unrelenting hill, a loud creak proceeded by a booming crash could be heard from afar. Shirou whirled his head around behind him at the source of noise to see dust billowing high in the air several kilometers away from where he's at. Shirou gave a contemplative expression at the odd sight and sound as he prepared to begin walking once more before another crash resounded the forest, this time much closer than it was before.

Shirou's face made a grim expression as his lips thinned into a line, ready to face any unexpected danger coming his way. More crashes resonated throughout the forest grounds, this time in succession while a maniacally booming laugh could be heard approaching quickly.

Shirou involuntarily swallowed his thickened saliva as he moved his body in a battle ready position, his ears listening all around him as Shirou's eyes focused on what is in front of him.

"HAHAHAHA – MUHAHA – HAHAHA," the series of laughs grew louder and louder as the sound of trees snapping and hitting the earth grew in intensity.

In less than three minutes, whatever this thing is, it had traveled from a place several kilometers away to a mere a kilometer away from where Shirou's at. This is something no human can do; this is something only a …

Shirou's eyes at that moment widened in alarm as his body moved instinctively on its own, dodging a rapidly falling tree by a hair's width.

"Wha—?!"

Shirou didn't even have the time to voice out his surprise when a massive double-edged broadsword came plummeting down in his direction. Shirou quickly leaped back as the force of the blade came crashing into the ground, sending Shirou flying several meters away before he tumbled over and over again onto the rich moist dirt.

Shirou stood back up as he winced in pain, what is that thing?! Taking a good look at the gigantic and muscular man in front of him who is smiling maniacally, Shirou could only come up with one answer.

"A Servant?!" Shirou muttered under his breath in disbelief. Another Servant which he isn't familiar with in a far off land? Is this possible? Disregarding the technicalities behind the situation, Shirou gauged the giant's abilities to be somewhere near the level of a standard Berserker Class Servant. Looking at the crazed being, Shirou knew this "Servant" should never be allowed to set foot anywhere near human populated areas.

Readying for the inevitable battle, Shirou, with eyes fixated on his opponent, chanted the ominous words of a man who is willing to give up his life for mankind's salvation.

"Trace –" Shirou shouted as green neon light extended from his arms to his fingertips, all his twenty-seven Magic Circuits activating at once, thrumming with power.

"—On!" The seven processes of recreating a blade from its history to structure manifested firmly into Shirou's hands as the Chinese blades of Kanshou and Bakuya projected into existence.

The berserk giant, as if unheeding to the threat before him, continued to wreak havoc around him with crazed glee. The giant then brought up his unnaturally massive sword as he swung the blade down to the ground right at Shirou who was standing by the side.

Shirou quickly sprinted out of the way as the sword split open the ground, creating a long chasm while dirt flew everywhere in the air as a result of the overpowered blow. Not wasting the opportunity, Shirou honed in on his target as he threw Kanshou and Bakuya at his crazed enemy with pinpoint accuracy, both blades crisscrossing in the air like boomerangs before hitting its intended target, the eyes, with a resounding and explosive boom.

The giant flinched at the explosive contact before blinking his eyes a couple of time as if ridding the pain and confusion. Once the giant's temporary disorientation cleared, the giant's crazed smile broadened in glee at Shirou's attack.

"GREAT! MORE!" the giant roared at Shirou's attack.

"Wha—?!" Shirou made a voice of disbelief at the odd behavior of what he assumed as a Heroic Spirit. This man … wasn't a masochist by any chance, is he?

Waiting for the giant to first make his move, the powerful being then swung his arms around as all the trees that were in his way were subsequently plowed down by his blade as his lethal weapon made its way towards Shirou violently.

Looking at the giant with a calculated gaze, Shirou ducked the blow at the last second before charging forward with all he had, even attempting the dangerous magecraft of reinforcing his legs to get to the opponent before him faster. Shirou then threw Bakuya and Kanshou once again at the giant's legs as both blades ignited powerfully at the contact as Shirou projected the same blades one more time.

Suddenly, as if by nowhere, a gigantic hand smacked Shirou at his unaware side as Shirou flew into the air before hitting a tree trunk with a loud resounding boom. The air in Shirou's lungs was instantly forced out of his body as he choked out a string of blood immediately afterward. Shirou's body slumped forward in pain at the violent collision as he panted for air in a mixture of agony and exhaustion.

"HAHAHA – AHAHAHAHA – Are you the oppressor?" the giant asked as it approached Shirou rapidly.

Shirou gritted his teeth as he lifted up his body. So this man is not truly berserk after all. This giant still had somewhat of a coherent mind of his own, unlike the Berserker of the Fifth Holy Grail War which his Servant, Saber, crossed blades with. Forgetting the technicalities behind what's going on, Shirou lifted his head as he stared at the man with little to no armor.

"You first attacked me," Shirou stated simply with a hint of protest, ready for anything the giant will be throwing at him. "Why am I the oppressor?" Shirou muttered under his breath in the end, seeing no use in communicating with the crazed giant.

The giant continued to wear his unchanging delightful smile on his face as he walked closer and closer to Shirou before the ground between them suddenly churned and shifted as the earth mended together to form a humanoid-like creature from the rocks and soil underneath.

"Golem?" Shirou said with uncertainty, having never seen such a creature before as his voice laced with confusion. Immediately after Shirou made his question, four more identical creatures birthed out of the ground, all of them just as tall as the giant as they all surrounded the man from all sides, cornering him in a tough spot.

The gleeful grin on the giant's face widened as he immediately charged at his new opponents, not wasting a single breath as he lashed out his massive blade right through the first golem, his sword easily cleaving through the earth made material without much resistance.

The giant quickly whirled around as he swung his blade in a mighty arc as he decimated the second golem before him. The third golem managed to deliver an overpowered punch as the giant was sent stumbling a few steps backward before the crazed being struck the golem at its midsection with his muscular legs, breaking the golem in half.

Shirou's mouth began to feel dry, so this was the power of the giant. There was no doubting it, although this giant is nowhere nearly as powerful as Hercules was, the giant before him is definitely worthy of the title of a Berserker Class Servant.

Leaping into the air, the giant finally swung down his blade as he made quick work of the last two golems, sending stone and earth flying everywhere in the battlefield.

Shirou didn't have time to wait for the billowing dust to settle down when the giant emerged from the thicket with his blade lifted high, ready to strike whatever is in his way. Shirou, without thinking, quickly scrambled out of the attack's way as the blade is immediately brought down as it severed the tree Shirou was previously beside at in half.

Shirou gulped, this is not going to be easy … or more like, impossible. But disregarding his inabilities and shortcomings, Shirou traced out Bakuya and Kanshou once again as he readied into a battle stance. The giant then turned around and began advancing towards Shirou's direction before a periodically green flying arrow suddenly whizzed out of nowhere, the arrow digging square into the giant's massive feet with stunning force.

The giant grunted in pain as he gave a disturbing laugh at the event. "GREAT! MORE! MORE!" the giant roared as he scanned around the forest, looking for the oppressor.

Shirou, doing the same, began to scan around his own surrounding, trying to pinpoint the potential new threat.

Another arrow whizzed through the air with lightning speed as the projectile dug into the giant's bulging muscular arms.

The giant didn't even flinch as he promptly acted by rushing in the direction where the arrow shot from, not even heeding how he was crashing through the numerous tall trees in his way that served as a troublesome obstacle.

Shirou, without thinking on what he's doing, began to swiftly follow after the stomping destructive giant's warpath. Two more arrows coming from different directions rapidly whizzed away in a blur as one sliced a deep gash across the giant's wrist while the other punctured his shoulder mercilessly.

Finally, to Shirou's right, Shirou noticed a vague outline jumping inhumanly fast from tree to tree, aiming her bow at …

Shirou's eyes widened as his pupils shrank in realization, turning his body immediately as he sidestepped off to the side, an arrow shot away as the projectile grazed the front portion of Shirou's hair. Shirou stumbled backward at his sudden action before quickly regaining back his balance. It seems like things weren't going to be as easy as he hoped it would be.

Shirou projected Kanshou and Bakuya again as the dual blades manifested in his hands while he crossed the blades defensively in front of him.

The giant, as if unaware what's truly going on, continued to plow through his way in the forest as he crushed trees and anything alike in his way without restraint, all the while doing this with a crazed gleeful grin, shouting something about "oppressor" this and "oppressor" that.

Three more arrows whizzed out in succession as pasture green light arced across the dark forest. Shirou didn't have the time to register what is going on before his body, once again, moved in accordance to its own will when he first ducked the first arrow before sidestepping the next one as it grazed the top of his hair. Lastly, Shirou placed a foot in front of him as he instantly advanced forward, swinging Kanshou down with all his might as the blade crashed into the midflight projectile, shattering it into oblivion.

Shirou panted quietly as his lung inhaled and exhaled rapidly in exhaustion. " _What was that earlier?!"_ was the question Shirou has been asking himself moments ago ever since he performed the crazy stunts he should never be able to do anytime soon without extensive training. It almost reminded him of …

There was no doubting it, the moves, complete and not wasted, flowing together with perfect synchrony as the combination of actions also taunting the enemy to continue its approach by using cleverly disguised yet obvious openings. Shirou didn't know how he knew all this, but these reckless moves were no doubt something a certain Archer devised and would do.

Shirou gritted his teeth in frustration, ever since he's got here, nothing has been going the way it should be. First, he gets thrown somewhere halfway across the globe, then he is forced to walk tens of kilometers up a hill of forest only to get attack by a ridiculously powerful and somewhat insane giant attempting to maul him on several occasions. And when finally the giant's attention left him, Shirou was left by himself to fend off a hidden attacker's arrows. If this wasn't Archer's E rank Luck at work here that is somehow inherited in him, Shirou didn't know what else it is.

Nothing happened for a couple seconds as the giant continued to pursue the hidden attacker to no avail, snapping branches and uprooting trees as he went. From what Shirou witnessed during the battle, it was clear the hidden archer had no intentions of killing the giant. The archer was only using his arrows to either stall or discourage the giant, perhaps maybe even stopping him but without killing the berserker. But seeing the giant's resilience and tenacity towards pain, Shirou doubted something like a "minor" wound to the arms or legs would impede the gigantic warrior much.

However, a thought bugged Shirou to no end. Why him? It's one thing to shoot the giant as it is a reckless and insensible man. But him? What has he ever done wrong?

Shirou was quickly reminded of the time when he accidentally stumbled into a fight between Archer and Lancer back in Fuyuki City at the school grounds. The results were given, Lancer abandoned the fight and decided to pursue and ultimately kill him because he, an outsider, had witnessed a battle he should not have seen.

Shirou's fists clenched tighter in alarm, as if his instinct is warning him of imminent danger. If what he thought was truly the case, then Shirou was beginning to find the possibility of him getting dragged into yet another Grail War becoming more and more likely.

Suddenly, Shirou saw a person's silhouette from his peripheral vision as the figure leaped into the air and before the giant without fear while puffing up his chest in confidence. Upon closer inspection, Shirou noticed the person having long braided pink hair with a black ribbon tying it all together, the design of the person's golden white cloak with black and red inside armor suggesting what Shirou assumed as a "she" originated from the Western world during her past – assuming "she" is a Servant that is.

"Behold, Oppressor!" the giant greeted with his maintained crazed grin as he approached the newly emerged figure. "My might will wreck havoc upon your arrogance!" the giant declared crazily as he boomed a chain of laughs.

"Oh, boy," the pink haired person sighed as he slapped his hand on his forehead before he straightened his body back up, fixing his eyes on the foe before him.

"Let those afar off listen; those who are near, see!" the person carrying an odd-looking lance declared. "I am one of Charlemagne's Paladi—" the person was quickly interrupted when a massive black blade thrusted towards the long-haired person, missing him by only a centimeter to the side.

The pink-headed person yelped in surprise as he leaped back defensively towards safety, away from the reach of the giant as the dark-skinned muscular man pulled back his one-handed broadsword.

"At least let me finish!" the self-proclaimed paladin exclaimed in childish protest as Shirou continued to conceal himself within the foliage, hoping to not get discovered by the clearly two powerful individuals and the one that has yet to reveal himself up in the trees.

"I haven't had the opportunity to do so in a long time!" the paladin continued in complaint, as if unconcerned of the dire and dangerous situation he is in.

The berserker hefted up his sword as his grin widened before his muscles bulged out as he released a burst of strength, charging over at the petite paladin.

"That's … unsettling," Shirou muttered under his breath as he continued to watch the scene unfold while the giant unceasingly laughed in disturbed joy during his rampage.

"If that's what you want, that's what you'll get," the paladin said with an unconcerned sigh as he readied the lance in his hand, pointing it straight ahead of him as he leveled the weapon perpendicular to his chest.

"Trap of Argalia!" the paladin shouted as mana from the air gathered into the tip of the lance with bright hypnotizing light as it swirled powerfully into the Noble Phantasm before a blast was unleashed out of the lance as the paladin charged in the berserker's direction.

It was but a split second later before everything ended with a gaping hole in the giant's thigh and an unscathed paladin who had his back facing the giant as he skidded to a stop.

The paladin then straightened up his body as he let his pink hair fall down harmlessly over his shoulder without care. "You see," the paladin began, "this lance returns whatever it strikes back to its spiritual form. Awesome, huh?" the paladin asked as he gave a satisfied and confident grin while turning his body around to face the clearly insane giant.

"You think that is going to stop me?!" the giant asked in a deep gruff voice and a maniacal smile as he attempted to get back on his feet to attack the paladin once again. However, before the giant can get to reaching distance at his opponent, a number of lances, as if shooting out from nowhere, stabbed through the berserker's torso and appendages mercilessly as the giant was forced to stop his advancement.

"Calvary's here," the paladin said with a dismissive wave of his hand, not at all concerned of what could have happened to him if the giant managed to snatch him. "Bye bye! See you later~!" the paladin said with a playful tone of his voice before he skipped away back behind the said "cavalry".

Replacing the earlier figure was now a group consisting a trio of men with only one person on an armored horse. The man on the horse clearly declaring his supremacy with the regal air he held himself. His eyes, empty and cold-blooded, signifying that he is willing to kill and do anything to his advantage.

"Rebellious Berserker of Red!" the ruler addressed with a raised voice at the supposedly rogue Servant.

Shirou widened his eyes in realization from behind the foliage as he watched on from a distance. So his prior unsupported hypothesis was right all along. This is none other than the Holy Grail War in another country. The man before him has even declared one of the common aliases denoted for a Servant or Heroic Spirit during these wars between magi. However … Servant of "Red"? What is all that business about?

"If you seek the one in power, you are facing him," the ruler on the horse continued to announce as he stared at the rogue Servant with cold unwavering eyes.

The Berserker gave a booming audible laugh as he looked at the man addressing him. "Are you the oppressor?" the giant asked before lifting himself up from his battle wounded position. "You shall now face my wrath!" the Berserker Class Servant attempted to rush at the man in charge before suddenly a group of golems rivaling his stature appeared from his four corners.

The giant swiftly smashed his blade into the first one before turning around to meet his second opponent with the edge of his blade. A rock fist of a created familiar struck the giant's abdomen as the Servant stumbled backward in pain as he counterattacked the golem recklessly, without care for his life and wellbeing. This was the difference between the Berserker Shirou knew and this Berserker.

Although it is clear that both are well-trained warriors in the past and capable of insurmountable feats, it was still nevertheless as transparent as day that the Heroic Spirit Hercules is clearly far more powerful than the Heroic Spirit present fighting here. This judgment still applies even with this Heroic Spirit still having some sanity in his semi-berserk state, even Hercules with his complete berserk state was able to retain his skills completely by instinct alone. This Heroic Spirit, however, was clearly not the same caliber as Illya's Servant.

Berserker whirled around as he met another golem with his blade, cleaving the familiar in half before the ground from under him churred and shifted. Berserker turned his eyes downwards to see the earth from the ground making its way up rapidly on his legs and torso. Before even a second has passed, Berserker's entire lower body is encompassed with an inescapable hold.

"Kazikli Bey," the man on the horse uttered as miasmic dark purple energy gathered into the ruler's hand as he formed his right hand into a fist. The miasmic form of mana then formed a circle of crackling energy as spears shot out from the ground beneath the trapped giant, impaling through his body without resistance. The giant's blade extended out at that moment, trying to skewer the man on the horse before him to no avail after having been so swiftly and tactically stopped.

"Your rebellion is against the oppression of the weak by the powerful," the ruler began speaking to the immobile Servant in front of him once more. "That is noble," the ruler stated with respect evident in his voice. "I am tempted to show respect to a rebel," the ruler finally finished his thoughts aloud at the dying Servant staring at him.

"I will crush you, Oppressor!" the giant roared as he attempted to further extend his sword to impale the man in front of him.

"Fall now," the ruler said stoically with an unwavering expression as his eyes narrowed dangerously, an act truly fit for a cold-blooded king, "rebel!"

At those words, more bladed lances emerged out from the ground as it fully impaled the berserk giant without a problem as the giant stopped his movement and drifted into unconsciousness with blood dripping rhythmically everywhere he was struck.

"He's yours," the ruler stated as he turned his horse around after the entire fight has come to an end.

"Nothing more for me to do, right?" the paladin said with a hint of excitement, having earlier been watching the entire spectacle of display of power. "Okay, then, see you guys later!" the paladin hurriedly spoke as he turned around and tiptoed his way out of the gloomy battleground.

"Rider!" a lady's voice resounded the forest. Shirou quickly noted in his head that this woman must be none other than Rider's Master by the way she held herself and addressed the said Servant. However, what confused Shirou the most during this entire exchange is the fact on why and how so many Servants are working together when one Servant is more than enough to defeat the rogue Berserker Class Servant. What is going on?

"Oh! My poor back!" Rider groaned with exaggeration as he bent his back and pretended to wince in pain, something which Shirou thought as the most unrealistic display of a poor excuse. "Ehehehe," the paladin gave a faked laugh as he rubbed his back uncertainly, trying to worm his way out of the tough situation. "I think I need to lie down!"

"Caster, I'll now sever Berserker's pact and force him into a new contract," the man cloaked in white interrupted Rider's unconvincing excuses with a monotonous voice. "Assist me," the man then commanded.

"As you wish," Caster said without a pause.

Shirou frowned in thought. No normal Master would use the words "Assist me" towards their Servant under ordinary circumstances.

"Celenike, Roche, help me as well," the man continued after Caster's response, directing his statement at the woman whom Shirou pinpointed as Rider's Master and a child who is beside Caster. Shirou didn't know anything about the child's involvement in this Grail War, but Shirou desperately hoped this kid is not another Illya. The thought of another kid having the same kind of power like a certain white silvered hair girl sent chills to Shirou's spine. And if this child had Illya's personality tacked onto it, there is no telling what disastrous events can happen.

"Okay, Darnic!" the boy answered with a piped up expression.

Shirou's eyes shifted to Rider's Master as the said Master looked over to the opposite side of where the man named Darnic was. "Fine," Rider's Master punctuated, as if reluctant to offer her help but having no other options, an obligation in other words.

After a momentary pause, the black long haired man who was speaking earlier opened his mouth once again as two Servants suddenly manifested seemingly from thin air beside him. A man in standard armor that looked like a warrior in every way to the other person who is a girl in a flawless white dress carrying a club like weapon in her hands indicated to Shirou that they must be Servants of this war as well.

"I'll leave the other two to you, then," the man audibly addressed the command to the other two Servant as both Servants wordlessly obeyed the issued order by walking further into the forest ground and towards Shirou's direction.

The other people present, also without a word, followed after the man riding on the horse as they headed back to what Shirou assumed as their base of operations. From what Shirou could gather through past experiences, this was the common norm during the Holy Grail Wars.

Shirou continued to blend himself in the midst of the foliage as both the oddly dressed girl – who had what can be best described as a pair of ear mufflers and a spike with a metallic shine protruding out of her forehead – and another Servant who carried himself stoically while carrying a standard medieval sword walked side by side with the impractically dressed girl.

Suddenly, both Servants came to a stop as deadly silence permeated through the forest grounds.

"Yo, I've been waiting for you two," a man with light green hair that bordered dusty yellow spoke with eyes closed and arms crossed as he leaned on the tree trunk behind him in a relaxed manner. "Saber and Berserker, I presume," the man commented as he straightened up his body and faced his two opponents.

Shirou frowned at the revelation. A Berserker and a Saber Class Servant … isn't that overkill for combatting only one Servant? However, Shirou was quickly reminded to never underestimate an opponent or gauge their abilities by sight alone. Shirou knew there is bound to be something he either didn't know or isn't able to understand.

"Man, I'm held in such low regards. Sending only two Servants to handle me?" the Servant said with his spear resting behind his neck harmlessly, as if unconcerned of the threat before him. The Servant's eyes then opened his eyes wide as he gave a bloodlust grin at his two opponents. "I'm offended!" the Servant shouted menacingly.

Both Berserker and Saber held up their weapons, ready for anything coming their way as the other lone Servant readied his spear by spinning his weapon in a lethal and random fashion around him.

"Rider is my class," the Servant continued before stopping his spear once it was vertically parallel to his body, "but no worries, I won't be using my chariot," the Rider Class Servant ended with a confident grin as he pointed his spear tip threateningly at his two enemies. "It will be disgustingly unfair against only the both of you," Rider finished arrogantly.

Shirou's forehead creased and wrinkled in thought. There was too much he didn't understand here. Why in the world are there two Berserker Class Servants and two Rider Servants in this war?!

Rider then fixed his eyes at the two enemies before him threateningly with a smile as he spoke his final sentence. "I'll beat the real meaning of a true hero – a true warrior – into you!"

As if those words triggered something, both Saber and Rider immediately leaped into action as Saber, without wasted movement, traded continuous blows at the swift Servant. With Rider being totally on the offensive, Saber continued to meet the overpowered inhuman blows one for one as they traveled through the entire battleground with lightning speed.

Batting away Saber's sword with his spear, Rider quickly dodged Berserker's reckless charge and her proceeded blow with her massive club. Berserker attempted to attack once more only for Rider to sidestep the blow and advance forward to her vulnerable stomach with a bone-crushing kick, sending the girl Berserker several meters away helplessly tumbling on the ground as she growled incoherently.

Saber then came with a rushing approach behind Rider's exposed back as Rider widened his eyes in realization. Reacting within a split second, Rider twisted his body as he grasped Saber's wrist midway with a vice grip, stopped the blade's trajectory right there.

Shirou felt his mouth gaping open at the nigh impossible sight. Did that Servant … just stop the other Saber Class Servant with raw strength alone?

"Too bad," Rider said with an arrogant smirk as Saber shook with strain. "You're nowhere near my level!" Rider shouted as he brought down the spear in his left hand down with unbelievable strength, the spear's trip piercing through Saber's armor before hitting his shoulder.

Rider, surprised by the fact that Saber didn't so much flinch at the detrimental blow, retreated a couple steps back as he reanalyzed his opponent. That blow should have had incapacitated Saber's arm, but however, the opposite result is shown before Rider.

"So you're an endurance fighter then," Rider stated in interest. "This is going to take a while."

Saber maintained his stoic expression as he eyed his enemy in close regards.

Rider looked at the expression worn on Saber's face before giving an amused snarky smile. "If you can't laugh on the battlefield, you won't get to laugh on the Elysian fields either. Show some good nature and consider these as your very last moments."

"A laugh in a battle may offend a person," Saber, for the first time, spoke a matter-of-factly.

"Those who revel shall be saved," Rider said in a peaceful and relaxed stance, as if uncaring and dismissive of what's going on around him.

At those words, suddenly, a bolt of green energy induced arrow shot out from the dark as it hit Saber square in the chest, sending Saber crashing into the trunk of a tree behind him.

Shifting his gaze to follow the arrow's trajectory, Shirou was finally able to make out the person that was fighting Berserker and himself.

"I see you take my sister's blow seriously," Rider commented as he approached the dual Servants before he fixed his eyes at the female Berserker. "We just lost our Berserker Class Servant, it's only fair if we return the favor, is it not?" Rider questioned as he readied his spear by pointing at Berserker.

Berserker gave a ferocious roar that sounded completely unnatural coming out from a little girl's mouth as a gale of wind gathered around her, signifying a sudden mana concentration surrounding her. The club that is held in front of her then split apart into four sections as green energy and lightning coursed through it with stunning force, creating a force field of lightning encompassing around her.

The sudden and unexpected force exerted by Berserker sent Shirou stumbling in place, making him create minimal noise by accidentally stepping on a patch of dried out leaves behind him. However, despite how quiet the noise was especially considering how Berserker's weapon is crackling with immense energy loudly, the nearly inaudible sound didn't escape the notice of the Servants present.

"Who's there!" Rider immediately shouted, no longer fixing his eyes on Berserker anymore but instead scanning throughout the forest.

Shirou mentally cursed in his head. How could he have been so careless?! If Shirou doesn't move out fast, the Servants present are bound to find him very fast. After all, Lancer of the Fifth War had found and discovered Shirou relatively fast when Lancer had first guaranteed killed him, a while later finding Shirou again to kill him once more despite not even originally knowing where Shirou lived. Compared to the former event Shirou recalled, this search should be significantly easier.

Shirou didn't have any more time to ponder his dilemma when he caught a momentary glint of light to his right. Shirou whirled his head around to see the female Archer staring at him in melancholy, readying her bow. Shirou didn't even bother thinking twice when he leaped out of hiding as three arrows shot out from the Servant's bow, the arrows digging themselves deep into the tree trunk that Shirou was hiding before not even a second ago.

"Ha, there you are!" Rider shouted as he charged in Shirou's direction.

Shirou quickly projected the dual Chinese blades when Rider began to rush in to attack him. Rider, with a smile on his face, didn't bother to hold back when he delivered an impossibly fast blow for Shirou's gut. Shirou, guided by instincts and experience alone that felt foreign yet familiar all the same to him, redirected the incoming blow expertly as he stepped forward and attempted to bring his other blade for Rider's neck.

Rider widened his eyes though his grin widened as he leaned back, allowing the blade to graze past him and through the air as Rider came back up and swung his spear around to attack Shirou's vulnerable side. However, Shirou already knew this was coming when he blocked the overpowered blow with his dual blades.

"Ha, too bad!" Rider exclaimed as he exerted even more force against Shirou's blades suddenly, successfully sending Shirou flying several meters away as Shirou smashed into a tree trunk violently when he could not match the raw strength of the Servant in front of him.

Shirou spat out a pool of blood as his body was in a fit of pain and his nerves lit alive like fire.

"Hmm, so you were the lad fending off Berserker of Red earlier," Rider commented. "I suppose that explains your tenacity now. Unfortunately, it is in my Master's interests to end your life here," Rider said before he added with a dangerous glint in his eyes, "though I don't mind an entertaining fight with a mage."

"I-I-I," Shirou struggled to stutter out as he peeled himself off the tree as he stood up shakily in strain, his entire body protesting with immense pain. More likely than not, Shirou had a good number of bones in his body completely shattered and broken beyond repair, "I c-can't d-die h-h-here y-yet," Shirou declared in a whisper before his downcast eyes stared at Rider straight ahead with unwavering determination.

"Ho," Rider voiced out with a hint of surprise, indicating he was slightly impressive. "I like that," Rider replied Shirou's statement, his own determined gaze rivaling Shirou's. "Here I come!"

Rider, vanishing from his spot in an instant, immediately appeared by Shirou's side as Shirou widened his eyes in shock. Shirou barely even had the time to whirl his head around when Rider delivered another kick into Shirou's torso without restraint, sending Shirou flying once more.

"Ah, that's it?" Rider asked in the form of a taunt, though there was a lace of respect in his voice. To see a human in this day and age capable of recognizing the direction where his lightning attack came from is truly an impressive feat, especially since mages are known to normally work in the shadows and not fight in the open.

Rider began to approach Shirou as he bared his spear down to the ground. "Sorry lad, but you are facing a foe far beyond you, so smile at your last moments for standing up against me for so long," Rider ended with a smirk.

However, before Rider could approach the severely injured and lying Shirou any further, Saber stood blocking the way between Rider and his target, with Saber readying his blade by pointing it in the direction of Rider's neck.

"So that's how it's going to be," Rider said as his grin broadened. "This should make me kill some tim—" suddenly an arrow pierced through the dark air, the supersonic arrow lighting up in the deadly night as it hit Rider right on the shoulder.

Rider widened his eyes in surprise at the unexpected development. "What?!" Rider exclaimed silently in astonishment as he moved out of the way of the next barrage of arrows coming down at him rapidly with pinpoint accuracy.

"Tch, Archer of Black," Rider clicked his tongue in annoyance as he swung his spear expertly, dodging and hitting the projectiles midair without fail in the pitch black night.

Berserker roared in action once seeing Rider's struggle as she attempted to finish the fight right there and then.

"So you attack, Berserker of Black," a stoic voice said in the night as the hidden archer pulled her bow with a cocked arrow on the string back as green waves of mana piled up into her arrow tip, charging the projectile with insurmountable power. "For your recklessness," the archer continued, "you shall pay in blood!" releasing her string, the arrow shot through the air with explosive force as the arrow traveled straight at its target, Berserker's head.

However, the hidden archer's arrow was swiftly intercepted when another arrow from afar hit the other arrow midair and knocked it off its intended course.

"What?!" Archer of Red voiced out her shock before nodding in understanding. This has to be the act of the other Archer in the opposing faction of the Great Holy Grail War.

Shirou continued to watch the entire spectacle play out with blurred vision as it continued to unfold. This fight is beyond anything he has seen before in his life. The sheer magnitude of Servants present in one battlefield stacked the odds up against all the Servants here. This kind of fight at such an immensely difficult level is bound to have someone here releasing their Noble Phantasm to finish the opposition. And this is something Shirou can never allow to happen especially with the city so close to the forest. There is no telling what any of these Servants' Noble Phantasms can do this close to human population.

Suddenly, the barrage of arrows coming at Rider halted to a stop.

"Ha, just like I thought," Rider remarked as he walked towards Shirou. "Archer of Black is unable to shoot me from his line of sight at my position right now," Rider revealed as he continued to approach Shirou.

Saber continued to stand there in the way, guarding Shirou stoically with a determined and fierce expression on his face. A face that is determined to protect at all costs.

Shirou gritted his teeth as his hands clenched to a fist. No matter how impossible it is, regardless of what other people say, Shirou was intent on achieving his dream as a Hero of Justice. If Shirou allowed the fight between Saber and Rider play out and escalate, it was clear that Saber will eventually be pushed back until he is forced to use his Noble Phantasm if no one aided him from here on out. And this is something Shirou can never allow to happen no matter what. And Shirou was also not planning to wait idly and hope for the best outcome either.

Standing back up to his two own feet as blood dripped off his arm and mouth, Shirou gazed back stoically at his opponent.

"Still standing," Rider noted before smiling impossibly wide. "I like it!"

Rushing like a wind, Rider stood before Saber in a split second as both Servants began to exchange lightning blows without restraint. Though it was clear Rider is holding back in the sense that he had limited mobility due to Archer of Black's waiting eyes from afar, it is still nevertheless evident that Rider still held the upper edge in the battle.

"Ha, think that'll cut me?" Rider asked as he intercepted Saber's sword mid-trajectory with his powerful right grip before Rider flung Saber and his blade to the side.

"Finished resting?" Rider asked Shirou seeing how he is now standing up straight.

Shirou didn't bother to grace Rider an answer as he stared at him. This was kill or to be killed. And Shirou was not planning to get killed until at least the fight between Servants diffused to the point where it is guaranteed that Noble Phantasms will not be unleashed here.

Rider grinned once more as he charged at Shirou head on, not even waiting for Shirou to project his dual swords.

However, Shirou did something completely unexpected at Rider when Shirou allowed his body to guide himself as he first leaped over Rider's lightning jab before Shirou stepped onto the spear's tip and directed the weapon's blade to hit the ground, digging itself into the dirt. Shirou then quickly ran across the short length of the spear's wooden shaft as Kanshou and Bakuya were recreated into his hands as he aimed for Rider's head.

Rider quickly ducked, not giving into his momentary surprise before Rider retreated back as he forcefully retrieved back his spear with his superhuman Servant strength.

"You seem to be more than a handful than you appear to be," Rider stated with a persisting smile. "Now give me the best you've got!"

Shirou, without hesitation, closed his eyes as he uttered the two words to his own form of incantation of Gradation Air, also commonly known as Projection Magic. "Trace On!" Shirou spoke aloud as his Magic Circuits flared back to life.

Shirou quickly went through the seven steps in recreating a weapon as a blood red spear rested firmly in his grip. The pure bloodlust emitted by the spear created a strained atmosphere, fully capable of leaving any normal human subjected by the blade's end to shiver and cower in fear.

"Wha—?!" Rider exclaimed in surprise, even the hidden archer couldn't contain her gasp of bewilderment at the fearsome aura the spear emitted.

"Gae—" Shirou began announcing the Noble Phantasm's name in his hands as blood red mana began concentrating on the tip of the lethal ornate lance.

Rider quickly readied his spear in front of him defensively, ready for anything that is about to happen.

"Bol—" Shirou uttered the Noble Phantasm's name partway when suddenly a stinging sharp pain assaulted his senses as Shirou looked down on his body in an awkwardly slow fashion. Widening his eyes in surprise, down on Shirou's line of sight was a blade protruding out of his chest. Shirou didn't have time to further register what is going on when three more blades came out of his body in succession, making him kneel down on one knee in pain and weakness as Gae Bolg, the weapon of Lancer in the Fifth War, left his hand and faded away from existence.

"What?!" Rider muttered out in question, seeing the unexplainable phenomenon before him for the first time.

Shirou, unable to keep his body upright any longer, kneeled both legs down to the ground before he dropped cold onto the dirt terrain. Rider, gathering himself, walking over to the fallen form of Shirou as he looked at him in a mixture of confusion and awe. "Today is just not your lucky day, lad," Rider commented with a carefree statement. "Spend your last moments reminiscing your past and be proud of it."

Rider, leaving Shirou to the ground during his last moments, left without a word, finding absolutely no need to deal the final blow on the innocent bystander. This, in Rider's own manner, is his way of respecting the magus.

None of the Servants present were able to so much do anything when an arrow blasted through the sky from afar, splitting trees and branches without a problem as it whizzed through the air, heading for Rider.

Rider widened his eyes in surprise as he quickly batted away the projectile. Rider gave a click of annoyance before he began running along the ground in a randomized pattern to avoid the raining arrows. Finally seeing for once that he and Atlanta are at the disadvantage here, Rider turned around to face the far away unseen opponent.

"I will face you again next time, Archer of Black!" Rider declared as he veered his head to the side when another arrow tried to shoot his head to no avail. "May the gods of Olympus bless our contest with glory and honor."

With that statement, Rider put his two fingers into his mouth as he gave a shrilling whistle. As if on cue, a blast of a powerful mixture of lightning and energy shot down from the heavens before him, revealing a chariot with three mighty stallions. Rider swung his body over and into the chariot as he shook the reins to urge the horses to go.

"We shall fight again!" Rider announced as his chariot began to take off into the sky with the hidden archer meanwhile jumping off a tree and into Rider's chariot. "I look forward to seeing your face!" and with that ending statement, Rider and Archer of Red road through the night sky with unfathomable speed. Disappearing in the same amount of time they had just appeared in the sky.

Shirou looked at the entire spectacle numbly as a series of thoughts ran over through his head. What had happened? How is he dying? Have all his efforts in pursuing to become a Hero of Justice ended in vain failure? Shirou quickly shook away the abhor thought. He had decided from the very beginning to stay true to himself no matter the circumstances and to never regret the outcome, whether good or bad. And even though Shirou despised how his life came to such a pitiful end, Shirou was nevertheless glad that he was still able to give it a try to defend the innocent unaware people in the city nearby. And because of just that, Shirou was satisfied for what he was able to accomplish.

Shirou opened his eyes when he felt someone touching him to see Saber staring at him intensely as the Servant, with caring and powerful arms, slowly lifted the limp Shirou up. Shirou was unable to realize what's going on when he unwillingly fell into the sweet blissful embrace of unconsciousness as everything turned black in his sight.

" _Old man,"_ Shirou made his last thought before his eternal rest, _"did I become a Hero of Justice?"_

* * *

 **Thank you for reading! Please review, I would love to see what suggestions, ideas, or comments you guys have with this story and chapter.**

 **FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions):**

 **I know you guys may be wondering, why is Shirou so powerful? The answer is, he's not. Yes, I am well aware the skills Shirou displayed here should be well beyond him, and this fact is no different in this fiction too. To put it simply, there is another interfering factor involved here that gives Shirou this kind of power, but as seen in this chapter, even with the enhanced ability, Shirou is still have trouble with it as evident in the end of the chapter.  
Future chapters will further explain the reasoning behind this "phenomenon".**

 **Anyway, hopefully I will be able to get a new story out during this week – namely Fate/Stay Night (back in time to Britain) Idea 2, further details can be seen under my profile page.**

 **Fate Blade Zero update coming out this upcoming Monday!** **–** **SteelBlades333**


	3. Yggdmillennia

_**Chapter 2 – Yggdmillennia**_

Darkness.

There was nothing but darkness.

Reaching out his consciousness to the ends of the space of nothingness, Shirou could feel no existence save for himself.

Suddenly, an oppressive and vile aura permeated through the expanse as Shirou's "eyes" widened and his "heart" lurched at the unmistakable feeling.

"So you have come," an ominous voice resounded the expanse of darkness.

"Who … are you?" Shirou asked though words never escaped his mouth, his instincts shouting at him to flee while Shirou forced himself to remain rooted at his spot through sheer will alone.

"I don't have a name," the voice answered.

"Where am I?" Shirou asked, thinking his latter question being more important than the former as he reached out his consciousness to the direction of the voice.

"Don't continue further," the voice warned, its tone slightly raised.

However, Shirou paid no heed to the voice's instruction as he floated deeper into the space unknown.

Reaching out to what was in front of him, Shirou's consciousness suddenly wavered as his "vision" immediately shut down.

" _ **HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE**_ _ **HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE**_ _ **HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE**_ _ **HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE**_ _ **HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE**_ _ **HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE**_ _ **HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE**_ _ **HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE**_ _ **HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE**_ _ **HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE**_ _ **HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE**_ _ **HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE**_ _ **HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE**_ _ **HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE**_."

"Erk," Shirou resisted the urge to puke as the sin of hate flashed through his mind in many forms of gruesome memories and visions.

"What … is this place?" Shirou croaked out as the feeling of dread clenched his soul.

"Tch, you people never learn when to stop," came the voice resounding in his mind again. "Don't continue further."

"Who are you?" Shirou asked once again.

"I don't have a name though I am known by many," the voice answered cryptically.

Shirou trudged on forward, determined to solve what's going on in this world of nothingness.

Another blast of vile evil shot through Shirou's very soul as the words of sin blazed through his mind.

" _ **KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL**_ _ **KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL**_ _ **KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL**_ _ **KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL**_ _ **KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL**_ _ **KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL**_ _ **KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL**_ _ **KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL**_."

Shirou "backstepped" from the undesignated boundary as the flood of disturbing flashbacks and memories immediately came to a stop. Horrors beyond even man's wildest imagination flashed through Shirou's mind within just a split second, revealing to Shirou all the sins of "kill" throughout history in that time span. Shirou had just witnessed the very concept of "kill". And one could even say he relived every event of "kill" as well.

"What are … you?" Shirou uttered, his voice strained and low as he "panted" in place.

"I am called as the 'Devil', 'Evil', 'All the Sins of the World', but most commonly as –" the voice abruptly stopped as silence reigned throughout the abyss of darkness.

"Tch, it seems like our time has come," the voice spoke evenly yet with great disdain.

Shirou felt for a moment his entire consciousness getting tugged backward against his will as his consciousness dimmed in awareness.

"Who are you?" Shirou asked for the final time in a frail voice as he teetered indecisively on the edge of consciousness and unconsciousness.

The voice went silent before speaking inside of Shirou's mind. "I am known by most as …"

A pause and a shiver ran through Shirou's "spine" at the malice and hate-filled voice the being's words contained.

"Angra Mainyu," the voice uttered right beside Shirou's "ears" as Shirou widened his eyes in shock.

Because, the voice that spoke was none other than … himself.

Shirou's mind blinked away after the spoken words in the eternal expanse of nothingness.

* * *

Shirou jolted up from the bed as he panted heavily with strenuous exertion.

 _What was that earlier?_ This was all Shirou could think about at the disturbingly vivid dream he just witnessed. No, that was no dream. It was more akin to a vision if anything. Wiping away the sweat that had gathered on his brows, Shirou's eyes immediately sharpened as he surveyed the unfamiliar surrounding.

" _Where am I?"_ was the first question Shirou wanted to ask himself as he glanced at the bed he was lying on, the bookshelves at the opposite side of the room, and the ornate lights that hung on the ceiling. However, a flood of memories prior to his unconsciousness assaulted Shirou's mind as Shirou gripped his heart and head in pain at the recollection.

The entire scene was madness, there were multiple Servants together battling against each other to the death. There was also more than one Servant per Class in this Grail War, an oddity that Shirou has never heard before … not that he has ever heard of such a thing called a Grail War before until about a week ago when he unwittingly got dragged into one.

Standing up, Shirou's feet weakly wobbled in place as Shirou was quickly forced to hold on to a nearby shelf to stabilize himself. Shirou gritted his teeth in defiance at his body's obviously frail state as he mustered whatever strength he could to continue walking.

" _Why am I like this?"_ Shirou thought absentmindedly to himself when Shirou all of the sudden was swiftly brought back to an unpleasant memory of …

Swords.

Yes, swords of different sizes and kinds shot out through the insides of his body, skewering him where it was impossible for any man or normal mage to live. However … Shirou immediately lifted up his new white shirt that replaced his prior torn up clothing to find his skin completely bandaged on the entirety of his torso. Gingerly peeling off one end of it, Shirou stared at his skin in wide-eyed disbelief when he witnessed his body is perfectly …

"It's … healed," Shirou murmured dumbfoundedly to himself.

Right before Shirou's eyes was perfect skin that looked as if it has never seen the face of battle before. Not even a scar remained on him!

It should impossible is what Shirou will normally think, however, the evidence is shown blatantly right in his face. Revealing to himself what is deemed impossible is right now possible.

Patting back down his shirt, Shirou decided to let go of the mysteries at hand as his legs began to decrease in numbness and increase in mobility. Treading lightly over to the wooden white door in front of him, Shirou slowly turned the doorknob as he created a small sliver of opening for him to see what was outside.

Darting his eyes right and left, Shirou waited for a few more seconds before coming to the firm decision that is was safe to exit the room. Wherever this place is, Shirou knew he didn't belong here. Quickly opening the door to avoid any unnecessary creaking sound, Shirou ran out as soundlessly as possible through the empty hallways.

Rushing through the hallways while turning left and right around the curbs, Shirou quickly came to a sudden halt as he swiftly backtracked a couple of steps backward before gazing intensively at the wall decoration beside him.

"That is one really nice sword," Shirou murmured thoughtfully to himself as he continued to eye at the masterpiece that seemed to glint under the chandelier's shining lights above.

Suddenly, a flurry of chattering and a hurrying of footsteps approached Shirou's direction rapidly. Shirou's heart lurched at the sound as he immediately grabbed the door closest to him and entered without thinking before shutting the wooden door as quietly as possible while he pressed his ears against the wooden barrier.

"Rider has escaped with the homunculus!" a voice cried out as the hurried steps passed by the room Shirou was in.

"Where are they heading?"

"They are heading down the hill straight for the forest, report to Lord Darnic immediately!"

More scurrying and rushing of footsteps resounded the hallway when finally everything came to a silence after a couple of long seconds.

Shirou's back slumped in relief as he gave a relaxed sigh. For now, he has not been discovered yet. But Rider? And a homunculus? What is all that business about? It can't be … Shirou felt his heart gradually sinking into his stomach. It couldn't be that overly powerful Rider Class Servant he fought with during their last encounter, right? If so, Shirou was sure that that Rider is up to no good. Mainly because that Servant tried to kill him though.

"Who are you?" a feminine voice resonated from behind him when Shirou's relaxed posture immediately went rigid at the confused yet demanding voice.

Whirling his head around and ready to do anything to ensure he comes out alive, Shirou was met with an unexpected sight of a girl in a wheelchair looking at him with curiosity as she made her way towards him.

"It's you," the girl stated as if confirming her own thoughts. "You were the one Saber saved."

"Uh … who are you?" Shirou tentatively asked, having no idea who the girl in front of him is.

"Fiore Forvedge Yggdmillennia," the girl named Fiore introduced herself as she extended her hand in front of Shirou, gesturing for him to shake it.

Shirou gracefully took the hand and gave it a firm shake before releasing it. "Emiya Shirou," Shirou introduced himself before continuing. "You are very good at Japanese," Shirou praised seeing how the girl is clearly a foreigner just by name and physical features alone but yet is able to speak his mother language fluently despite not being a native Japanese.

The girl stared at Shirou for a second before shaking her head. "I don't know how to speak Japanese," Fiore replied, "neither have I been to the country before. Are you from Japan?"

Shirou frowned in confusion. What he heard is definitely Japanese. She's even saying it right now! "You are definitely speaking Japanese," Shirou noted with confirmation.

"I'm speaking my mother language, Romanian," Fiore answered. "I am not speaking Japanese. Are you sure you feel alright?"

"Yeah … I'm fin—" suddenly, an odd distorting sensation invaded Shirou's body as Shirou stumbled backward at the unexpected feeling.

"Who's there?" Shirou demanded with a stern expression, no longer looking straight at the girl's face who is still seated in her mobile wheelchair.

Like particles dancing in the air, the molts of blue mana in the form of brilliant glistening light manifested a figure to reveal a man in what Shirou presumed as his early thirties with long golden hair that reached to his chest.

"I am surprised you noticed me," the Servant chuckled as he gave a warm smile.

"A Servant," Shirou said evenly with a serious expression. What can get any worse than to be caught red-handed by a Servant when you're trying to escape the base headquarters that serves for the purpose of the Grail Wars.

"He can sense you?" Fiore murmured in thought as she placed her hand on her chin in pensive thought. "How interesting."

"As you may have guessed, magus," the Servant continued. "Fiore here is my Master and I am her Servant, Archer."

Looking straight at the man's calculative gaze, Shirou knew the man was telling the truth. Those eyes that can stare intensively at their target for hours on end is only a skill an Archer can perform with pinpoint accuracy.

"Are we … in a Grail War?" Shirou tentatively inquired, lowering his raised personal defense in hopes for an answer.

"Not you, but yes, this is the battle for the possession of the Greater Grail. We are known in the war as the Black Faction."

"Black Faction," Shirou repeated under his breath in thought. This was new. "What is the 'Black Faction'?" Shirou asked.

"I supposed I can explain this to you seeing how you have unwittingly dragged yourself into the Grail War," Fiore smiled before switching to a more calm yet serious expression. "The Great Holy Grail War began when our patriarch, Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia, declared the Greater Grail is in Yggdmillennia's possession and decreed a secession from the Mage's Association immediately afterward. This separation caused an uproar which paved the way to the Great Holy Grail War created by the Grail itself.

"The Great Holy Grail War consists of two factions, the Black Faction and the Red Faction. The Black Faction being comprised of the magi lineage of Yggdmillennia and the Red Faction being comprised of men from the Mage's Association."

 _So … the two faction colors of this big Holy Grail War just had to be the signature colors of the very Archer Class Servant that tried to kill him back in the Fifth Holy Grail War._ Shirou was already disliking where the direction of this conversation is heading.

"Each faction has seven Servants from each individual classes, totaling fourteen Servants and a neutral party by the Class name, Ruler."

"Ruler?" Shirou questioned in thought.

Fiore nodded. "Yes, Ruler is the Servant sent by the Grail to overseer the War. They are normally Saints in the past who have no wish that they desire themselves."

All this Shirou is hearing is very much different from the Grail War back in Fuyuki City which he had experienced.

"What happens when a faction comes out victorious?" Shirou inquired.

"Then the winning faction then battle among themselves for the sole victor in order to wish upon the Holy Grail."

Shirou nodded in understanding. At least the basic and foundational principles of this Grail War is largely similar to the one he experienced. Shirou unconsciously veered his eyes from Fiore to the back of his right hand that no longer had his three red command seals on it. Shirou made a melancholy expression at the sight, the very proof of the bond he had with Saber as Master and Servant is no longer there due to his carelessness and how he was not careful enough against the elusive witch, Caster.

"Master, Lancer has summoned all Servants to pursue Rider," Archer suddenly spoke.

Fiore nodded, "I've heard it too," Fiore replied before turning her head back to Shirou. "I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer, but I have some business to attend to."

Shirou nodded in understanding. If Shirou had to guess, it had to be something about the escaped homunculus from what he had heard earlier.

"I'll see you later then," Shirou spoke as he opened the door to allow Fiore easy exit.

Nodding her head in thanks, Fiore and her Servant, Archer, left the door quickly at Lancer's command.

Once the door was closed, Shirou gave an exhale of relief as he quickly darted his eyes left and right to make sure nothing was wrong around him. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, Shirou gave a content smile as he surveyed the massive room.

Larger than any room in his home back in Fuyuki, Shirou found himself admiring the nice spacious chamber despite it not fitting his own personal preferences. Walking over to the window and out to the outdoor balcony, Shirou glanced at the far-out horizon as he surveyed over at the deceivingly quiet green forest.

Shirou had heard it himself earlier. The men here at the castle are uniting their efforts in an attempt to capture a homunculus and Rider who had escape alongside him. Shirou knew most mages viewed homunculi, manufactured beings from magecraft, as nothing more than a tool for their own purposes. But from what Shirou can gather at Archer and Fiore's short exchanges, why would they go to such great lengths to capture a homunculus that they are even willing to send in all the Servants present out for a manhunt? Isn't that overkill?

And to further complicate things, of all the Servants that escaped with the homunculus, it was the Servant Rider. Shirou knew the Rider he fought against with the last time he was conscious was definitely not a part of the Black Faction, or in other words, Yggdmillennia. The fact that that Rider fought against both Saber and Berserker in whom the man named Darnic commanded to action proved and supported that fact. Therefore, it only left the pink-haired "girl" who is also a Rider Class Servant as the very person who escaped alongside the homunculus.

" _But her?"_ Shirou thought pensively. She didn't seem to be that massive of a threat to warrant these many Servants in the manhunt.

Disregarding the questions running through his jumbled mind, Shirou decided the only way for him to make sure that no innocent lives were involved, even including the running homunculus himself, Shirou needed to be there to witness the entire spectacle and understand what's going on. And if necessary, stop it before any innocent lives are hurt or lost.

Rushing back in the room while saying a quick silent apology, Shirou ripped a blanket off the bed of Fiore as he rushed back to the outdoor balcony and tied the blanket on the outside post of the stone carved fence. Tying two more blankets and a sheet at the beginning and end of each fabric, Shirou had made himself a makeshift rope to climb down the looming castle with.

Not only will it be easier to avoid detection by getting out of the castle this way, but also he wouldn't have to go through all the trouble to remain undetected in the shadows of the alleyways from the patrolling guards roaming here in the castle.

Gingerly crossing his legs over the concrete ornate fence around the balcony, Shirou carefully let down his foot as he firmly tugged on the makeshift rope in precaution. Double checking that everything was secured, Shirou slowly began to let himself down as the wind softly swayed the hanging blankets in a nerve-wracking manner.

Halfway down through the rope, Shirou suddenly felt a tied-up knot between the blankets loosening as the wind howled louder and stronger while the makeshift rope rocked right and left dangerously, threatening to crash Shirou right at the castle stone walls for several times. Shirou resisted an urge to call for help when he felt the rope of blankets suddenly dropping a few centimeters, making Shirou's body freeze with uncertainty as he eyed at the ground beneath, still about five-story high from touchdown.

Holding his breath unconsciously for a couple more seconds for good measures, Shirou resumed back his way down when …

The howling gust of wind in the night air blasted at Shirou forcefully, sending Shirou right at the castle walls fast as Shirou widened his eyes in horror.

STOP STOP STOP STOP STOP … PLEASE STOP! Shirou desperately prayed for the rope to halt its swinging motion before it slammed his body mercilessly against the ragged stone surface. However, Fate was not on his side when the wind continued to angrily blow in the mountains as the rope swung back and forth more violently. Bracing for the impact, Shirou swore he felt something broke at that moment when his body got flung in the air and crashed painfully into the stone wall as air was forcefully ejected out of his lungs.

Involuntarily coughing out a series of ragged coughs as Shirou greedily breathed air back in his lungs, Shirou slowly turned his head to the right to see a guard by the castle wall looking straight at him.

Shirou's face froze at the direct eye contact as his heart plummeted with dread.

…

…

…

"… Hi?" Shirou greeted with uncertainty and a wave of his hand after a brief moment of stunned silence, hoping with all his heart that the guard will let him go.

The guard stared at him for a moment longer before straightening up his body. "INTRUDER!"

Okay. Time to go!

No longer heeding the dangers of the swinging makeshift rope, Shirou went down the length as fast as he could, just barely dodging an arrow by a hair's width as Shirou mentally gulped at how close he was to dying and falling off from this height.

Another arrow shot out, grazing Shirou's upper arm as blood spilled out from his wound. It was only through the erratic movement of the blankets in the wind was he able to dodge that. If not for the wind, Shirou knew he would be in one tangent place and would end up as a lone cornered target, something which didn't spell too well for his survival.

Leaping off at the end of the rope before another projectile can fire at him, Shirou landed to the ground as his bones creaked and his spine shuddered at the impact from jumping down at the height of one floor.

Shirou didn't have time for a short reprieve when three more arrows whizzed through the night air, forcing Shirou to scramble off the ground and into the forest. This was no longer a simple escapee or see what's the entire situation of the fugitive homunculus all about, Shirou was now running for his life because someone misunderstood him as an intruder of the castle. Thinking back, who in the right mind _wouldn't_ think that when they see a person climbing on a rope of blankets attached to a Yggdmillennian Master's room?

Zigzagging right and left through the dense foliage as Shirou crashed through bushes and feeble branches without heeding to the tremendous amount of noise he was making, Shirou felt something caught his leg as he widened his eyes in surprise.

Before Shirou could even properly react, he immediately lost balance when his foot got caught on an overgrown tree root as Shirou was sent tumbling down the hill painfully. It wasn't until several seconds later did Shirou managed to skid to a stop as he groaned audibly in pain.

Shirou had heard from some of his friends back in Japan that rolling down a grass hill was one of the greatest joy a person can experience during their childhood. However, having experienced it firsthand now, Shirou didn't bother contemplating twice before thinking the exact contrary.

Rolling down a hill was not fun. In fact, it was quite unpleasant to put it lightly.

Lifting up his body with disorientating spinning vision as he wobbled in place, Shirou rubbed his eyes with his hands as he proceeded to blink a couple of times to see a group of people right in front of him. Saber was pointing his sword at the pink-haired Rider in the distance while another man which Shirou has never seen before is slowly approaching a … child?

What's going on?

"Hi," Shirou waved at them after a prolonged silence as Shirou rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Crashing down through the forest then to here must not have been the grandest appearance he has ever made. Tohsaka will be scoffing at him for his recklessness if she were here, even Saber will give him a disapproving shake of her head at his behavior.

"What are you doing here?!" a blonde-haired man dressed in regal white military clothes spoke. His chubby physique indicating to Shirou that he must be a wealthy man most likely from the castle he just left. Or in other words, an individual working for the Black Faction if he is not a Master himself already.

"Uh …" Shirou gave an awkward chuckle. How was he supposed to answer that? Should he tell him he climbed out of the castle from the outside then tumbled his way in the forest after a group of homunculi was – and still – chasing him? Even Shirou himself had the common sense to not utter this kind of information.

Glancing to the man's hand, Shirou saw a set of red command seals on the back of it, signifying he was a Master of this war. And if Shirou had to guess, he had to be the Master of Saber who is here accompanying him.

"You're the Master of Saber, I'm guessing," Shirou began the conversation with an indirect question.

"You're the one Saber brought back," the man noted with a scowl. "What do you want?" the man proceeded to ask, urgency clearly laced in his voice for some reason as he continued to glance at the seated kid panting by the tree trunk. The child being clearly fatigued.

Shirou hummed in pensive thought. "Now?" Shirou asked. "I was wondering where the escaping homunculus with Rider is …" Shirou trailed off as he veered his eyes over to Rider then back at the panting kid who looked like he had just witnessed a near-death experience and is running for his life.

Shirou at that moment felt like he needed to bang his head at his stupidity. How could he have not noticed it earlier?

"That's him, isn't he?" Shirou asked dryly as he pointed at the brown-haired child.

The Master nodded his head professionally in answer as he resumed his approach at the child homunculus while the homunculus widened his eyes in fear at the Master.

"Wait," Shirou stopped what was going on with a word as the Master veered his head over at Shirou with a face of disdain.

"Why are you catching the homunculus?" Shirou asked sternly as he squinted his eyes in suspicion. Something was not right here.

"It's none of your business!" the Master shouted in anger as he waved his hands to gesture for Shirou to get out of here.

Shirou stepped forward as he closed in the space between the homunculus and the Master fearlessly. Reckless? Yes. Stupid? Perhaps. Regardless, Shirou is going to dig up the root of the problem and see what's going on.

"What is a homunculus to you?" Shirou changed his question as he fixed his eyes at the European Master with a stern and unwavering gaze, the eyes of a person who had survived the impossible and has witnessed battles beyond man's wildest imaginations.

"Get out of th—"

"Answer me," Shirou said calmly, never once relenting his eyes away from the man.

The Master eyed Shirou a second longer before indulging him with an answer. "A homunculus is a tool created by the family of Yggdmillennia for the sole sake of defending and serving us."

Shirou nodded his head in understanding. As thought, this magus is no different from the countless magi in the world. A person who views the pursuit of magecraft as more important than the protection of human and intelligent life.

"In that case, I'm afraid I won't let you take the child with you," Shirou spoke frankly. If Tohsaka were to ever watch a replay of this scene, Shirou without a trace of doubt knew she will be yelling curses at him while pulling the roots of her hair out in frustration at his display of recklessness.

The man spat out with dismay at Shirou's words before glancing to his left. It was clear that Saber was currently preoccupied with Rider, therefore making him incapable of coming to his aid. Then that left …

"He's here!" a voice resounded through the forest.

Shirou turned his head to the side as he gazed past the dense foliage to see a group of men ranging over twenty people heading his way with bows and arrows, swords, and halberds in their hands. All of them wearing the same white attire and having the same face accordingly to their gender. They were without a doubt a homunculi squad if you could call it that.

"That was fast," Shirou noted with a frown. At least faster than he expected, it seems like the homunculi didn't bother taking their time finding him.

One by one, the homunculus emerged out of the thick foliage as they stepped into the clearing, the moonlight shining down on them while the clouds drifted through the night sky, periodically blocking the light.

"About time!" the blonde-haired Master spat out. "Get that homunculus!"

The homunculi approached closer while baring their weapons in front of them as they formed a semi-circle around everybody.

"We are here to capture the intruder, Master Gordes Musik Yggdmillennia," a male homunculus spoke monotonously and without a trace of emotions.

"Intruder?" Gordes gave a scowl.

All the homunculi present subtly nodded in answer as they pointed their weapons at Shirou. "Him, Master."

Gordes looked over at Shirou dumbfounded. "What you mean he's an intruder, you useless tools?!" Gordes shouted with rage as he pointed with boiling fury at the homunculi. "Capture the homunculus now!"

Gordes would have liked the homunculi to capture the weird red-headed boy blocking his path to esteemed pride and honor. However, it was his very own Servant, Saber, who had saved the boy somehow from certain death. Even Gordes, a first-rate magus, is unable to explain to himself on how it was possible for the red-headed man to heal from his severely sustained injuries that ran across through the entirety of his body. And because of all these facts, simply eliminated an annoying obstacle became all the more complicated to Gordes.

"Trace—" a voice suddenly uttered in the night.

All twenty-seven of Shirou's Magic Circuits lit up at once as the green neon glow extended from his arms and towards his fingertips while green mana fluctuated in his hands to form an image.

"—On!" Shirou whispered under his breath when the dual married swords of black and white manifested themselves firmly into his grip as Shirou shifted his legs and weight into a battle ready position.

All the homunculi without hesitation advanced forward at their target until the sound of hooves and a group of people walking approached them.

"Stop!" a voice commanded with unwavering authority as all the homunculi soldiers present immediately halted their movement.

Shirou shifted his concentrated gaze from the group of homunculi to what was behind. Now in front of Shirou was a hazy outline of a figure on a stallion as the mane of the horse ruffled in the midnight breeze while the fog settled in on the ground as if flowing and ebbing in the forest lands.

Coming out of the thicket and right before everybody as he sat straight in his saddle with eyes and composure that spoke of a merciless king, the Servant before Shirou gazed down at everybody with cold and calculating eyes.

Following behind and right beside the supreme Servant were the rest of the other Servants and Masters. Shirou was able to identify right on the spot Rider's Master; Caster and his Master; the patriarch of the Yggdmillennia family, Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia; Archer and his Master who introduced herself to Shirou as Fiore; and lastly, there was Berserker and a guy beside the one-horned girl Servant who Shirou assumed as Berserker's Master. All that's left was … Assassin.

Shirou subtly scanned his surrounding as his senses honed in around him for anything unusual. For all Shirou knew, all this could ultimately be a trap for Assassin to kill and end him. Shirou quickly shot down the idea in his mind the moment it popped into his head. He was thinking too much. The Servants here could much more easily kill him now if they were to all attack him together. In fact, Shirou was pretty sure even the weakest Servant here could cut him into many pieces before he even registered what was going on.

"Shirou?!" a surprised gasp could be heard in the deadly silence as Shirou nodded his head in acknowledgment at Fiore.

"Hi, Fiore," Shirou greeted with a warm smile. "It seems like we've met again."

Fiore didn't answer Shirou's comment as she remained silent, probably not knowing how to reply to such a weird greeting in the midst of everybody present.

"Is this the homunculus, Caster?" the ruler on horseback asked in a cool voice.

The man with an odd-looking metal mask turned his head to face the ruler who addressed the question. "Yes, that is him."

"What do you want with him?" Shirou loudly interrupted the exchange of conversation as he stared at the group of Servants and Masters in front of him intensely.

Silence reigned in the forest at the sudden uttered words as the man on horseback eyed Shirou emotionlessly yet with interest while the Caster simply turned his head in Shirou's direction, his mask not betraying what he felt.

"Isn't he …?" the boy beside Berserker who had brown hair and blue eyes stared at Shirou with a mixture of surprise and disbelief as he trailed off.

The ruler shifted his unforgiving gaze from Shirou to the person beside Shirou's position off in the distance where Saber is still pointing his sword's end at Rider.

"Saber," the ruler raised his voice in demand. "Explain. What has transpired here?"

Saber dutifully nodded as he lowered his sword while Rider gave a relieved sigh. "He is the magus who fought against Rider of Red and saved Berserker and me from certain death." Saber began explained stoically.

"I wouldn't go that far …" Shirou spoke under his breath as he gave an awkward smile. He didn't fend off the Rider Class Servant during the fight, he was completely crushed by the ridiculously powerful Servant whose power is unlike any Servant he has seen before save for Hercules himself in terms of raw strength and speed. For all Shirou knew, he was no match against any Servant no matter how weak they were!

The ruler subtly nodded in understanding. "I understand. Then magus," the ruler fixed his unnerving emotionless eyes at Shirou as Shirou met his gaze with unwavering determination and resolve, "I will allow you to leave this place unscathed, however," mana began to form around the ruler, showing an intense killing intent, "if you stand in our way, you will face against my wrath!"

Shirou lifted both Kanshou and Bakuya a little higher defensively as he eyed the ruler. "Homunculi aren't tools," Shirou spoke with confidence. "They may have different origins than we, man, do. But if they have a soul, then they are human to me!" Shirou finished as he pointed Kanshou towards the Black Faction audaciously. "If you want him to fulfill your own selfish plans, then you have to go through me," Shirou ended coolly.

A tensed silence reigned in the forest as Shirou shifted his legs ever so slightly while the dirt made an agonizingly slow crunching sound in the wake of battle. Mana slowly began to gather threateningly in the forest grounds when …

"Stop!" a voice cried out from their side as everyone whirled their head to the source of noise.

In front of Shirou, was a girl in splendor glory as she placed her hand by a tree trunk as if supporting her balance before making her way towards them. Blinking his eyes a couple times, Shirou's mouth slowly gaped open at the awestriking sight. Gowned in blue, silver armor and fabric, the woman before Shirou had braided blonde hair and blue eyes with a metallic headdress to complement her looks. Shirou's eyes bulged out at the impossible sight, she looked uncannily like his Servant, Saber!

"Ruler?!" Gordes exclaimed in shock.

Ruler? Shirou made a frown at the thought. Wasn't the Ruler Class Servant supposed to be the Overseer of this Great Holy Grail War? If so, why is she here involving herself openly like this?

The said woman nodded her head in confirmation as she made her way into the space between the two groups. "I am Ruler, tasked to be in charge of this Holy Grail War."

"Ruler," the man who stood beside the Servant on horseback named Darnic repeated stoically in thought. "Why have you come?"

Ruler glanced at Shirou for a second as Shirou met her split-second gaze with a questioning look, not sure what's she looking for as he continuously stood defensively in place.

"Even the Holy Grail Wars have rules," Ruler began with a peaceful expression as she spoke. "This man did not willingly join the battle between Servants, am I right?" Ruler asked as she pointed at Shirou.

" _Wait, what is going on?"_ Shirou couldn't help but think that thought at the sudden appearance of the absolute authority in the battle for the omnipotent Grail.

Shirou numbly nodded. "Well, I wasn't expecting to get dragged into another one," Shirou muttered under his breath. However, whenever there are any innocent lives on the line due to the evil ambitions of the Masters or Servants in the Grail Wars, whether or not he is related to the event, Shirou will do whatever he can to save them no matter the consequences. And if his very own life will provide that kind of salvation for even only one person, Shirou wouldn't even hesitate to give up his life for him.

"Another one?" Ruler asked as her eyes squinted in suspicion.

Shirou was quick to dismiss the question. "I appreciate your concern," Shirou thanked Ruler as he gave a subtle yet courteous traditional Japanese bow in her direction. "However, more importantly, it should be the homunculus's life behind me you should concern of instead."

Ruler shifted her gaze from Shirou to the figure behind him. Sure enough, lying with fatigue on the tree trunk was a brown-haired and red-eyed child opening his eyes with anxiety which only spoke of his sheer will to live and to survive.

"May I inquire what you are wanting from the child?" Ruler asked with a calculated look as she fixed her eyes at the group of people before her, both the small army of homunculi and the Master and Servant pairs.

"Caster, answer her," Darnic replied after a tensed silent pause.

Caster nodded his head as he faced Ruler.

"We will be using the homunculus for providing us mana from their artificial Magic Circuits," Caster explained with an even voice.

Shirou's blood boiled at the words. What Caster was saying is no better than saying they are using homunculi to be living batteries to power themselves up. This is just simply a more convenient and roundabout way of Servants killing people to collect mana to strengthen themselves. These people viewed homunculi as creatures no better than a disposal tools, using it until it no longer functions before they dispose of it. And thinking back to his naughty yet good-natured sister Illya, Shirou's blood burned with fury at the thought. How cold-blooded can these mages be?

"Is that how you view a homunculus?" Shirou asked coolly before he raised his eyes up to meet the Masters and Servants of Yggdmillennia. "Nothing more than a disposal tool to your liking?!"

"Hand him over, magus," Darnic commanded stoically. "He is the property of Yggdmillennia."

"I refuse," Shirou answered without a lace of uncertainty at what he's doing as he stood in the way of the army of Servants, Masters, and homunculi.

"He is a resource we prepared for this war. With no personality, past, nor family, homunculi are made for the sole purpose to fight," Darnic explained to Shirou as Shirou continued to hold his dual blades.

"That may be true," Shirou responded to the comment. "However, he acted by his free will to escape, he wanted to survive and preserve his life, am I not correct?"

Darnic didn't reply to the rebuttal.

"The only way you're taking the homunculus back with you is through me. I will fight with everything I have to give this child freedom," Shirou stated with conviction.

"Are you crazy?" Darnic asked with a slight hint of being dumbfounded at Shirou's words.

"As long as I stay true to myself, then nothing else matters. Even if I am crazy, I will still save him."

Darnic eyed Shirou dangerously as the seconds prolonged in the tense atmosphere.

"Enough!" Ruler's voice resounded in the forest as the birds perched on the tree branches fluttered away at the sudden sound. "This child will not be dragged into the Grail War."

"But—"

"You may have created the homunculus," Ruler stated, "but if he does not want to join in the Grail War, then you have no right to refuse him."

Darnic was about to say something before the man riding on the gallant horse stopped him.

"Darnic, let it go," the man commanded as Darnic stayed silent. "Rider," the king then addressed, "do you consider your despicable act as treason?"

"Nope!" Rider answered with a smile, it was honestly hard for Shirou to know whether the pink-haired Servant is serious or not at times. "I believe that I did the right thing!"

Rider's Master visibly clenched her fist as her face made a gruesome expression.

"Yet you may not go unpunished," whom Shirou deduced as Lancer stated with eyes closely calmly before reopening them. "Caster," Lancer commanded with a word.

Caster promptly responded to the commanded by going into spirit form before briefly appearing right before Rider and Saber as he enveloped Rider's hands with a purple ball of light consisting of pure mana.

In less than a second, earth began to form and wrap about Rider's hands together in the shape of a ball to serve as handcuffs, one that is nigh impossible to break without the intervention of magecraft. To try to break it will be equivalent in trying to break a solid rock.

"Wait, we're not don—" Darnic began.

"We are," Lancer spoke with no room for arguments. This was a decree sentenced by a longstanding king as Darnic proceeded in shutting his mouth.

"Ruler," Lancer addressed as he looked at whom he deduced as none other than the Maid of Orleans, Jeanne d'Arc, "as my sister before God, will you join forces with us?"

"No," Ruler swiftly replied. "As long as you fight for the Grail in an honorable fashion, I will not interfere regardless of whatever may happen."

The king's lips tightened as he acknowledged Ruler's final decision. Pulling back the reins on the stallion, the horse kicked up in front legs with a neigh as it turned around and galloped back to the direction of the Yggdmillennia Castle. Everyone turned around as well as they followed the leader of the Black Faction.

"Well then," Rider opened his mouth as he turned around to face the rest of the people behind him which consisted of Ruler, the child homunculus, and Shirou himself. "This is the extent which I will help you," Rider continued with a playful yet sincere grin. "Goodbye!"

Seeing the hazy yet worried glances the homunculus was making, Rider's caring smile widened as he made a confident pose. "You'll be fine, you can live on your own now! Go to town, see new faces, learn to love and hate people. Live a happy life, got it?" Rider ended with another beaming grin.

Love people. Shirou completely understood that. But hate? Does the homunculus really need to learn that? It's one thing to hate an action, Shirou himself hates many of the things people did in his past and are still doing now. However, that does not warrant his hate for the individual himself. He didn't appreciate and hated how his sister Illyasviel tried to kill him, yet, never once did he ever hate her as a person.

"That way, we won't all have fought for vain," Rider continued as he gave a reassuring grin at the homunculus.

"I …" the homunculus looked at his own hands, not sure how to respond to Rider's unwavering confidence.

"Live! You're allowed to now, you're allowed to live a life you want to experience," Rider spoke as the child widened his eyes in realization at the implications behind Rider's words. Rider then turned around as he waved his two earth bounded hands in farewell. "See ya! Make sure you take care of him, Ruler, red magus!"

"Red magus?" Shirou grumbled under his breath with dissatisfaction. Why red? The closest things Shirou could relate to the color was – Archer, the very man who virtually killed him due to his regrets of his, and alternatively Shirou's, ideals; Rin, who is clever yet deceivingly sharp with her tongue; and lastly, the color of blood, something which Shirou sees a lot more often coming out from his body than he prefers to. So, with all that said, although red is a nice color in general, it didn't bring back much pleasant memories for Shirou.

The Master of Rider glared at the trio by the tree the homunculus was still lying on with much disdain as she spat out and inaudible curse before abruptly turning away and following the walking crowd.

"Ah," Shirou gave a relieved sigh once all of the Servants, Masters, and militaristic homunculi are no longer present. "I'm glad that was over," Shirou gave a satisfied smile before turning his body over to face Ruler.

"Hi, I guess I haven't introduced myself," Shirou began with a soft enduring smile. "My name is Emiya Shirou, but you can just call me Shirou," Shirou spoke as he extended his hand out in a gesture to shake Ruler's own hand.

"Shirou," Ruler's tongue rolled out as she pronounced the foreign name with interest when she met Shirou's hands with her own as they gave each other a friendly handshake.

Shirou nodded in confirmation that she managed to get the pronunciation right. Shirou expected nothing less from the Servant Overseer of the Great Holy Grail War.

"Anyway," Shirou continued as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly once he retracted his hand. "thanks for saving me out there. Despite all my talk about saving him," Shirou gestured over to the red-eyed homunculus, "I guess I wouldn't have fared too well if a Servant attacked me, let alone all of them."

Ruler gave a concerned frown at Shirou's direction. "You shouldn't be so reckless," Ruler lightly reprimanded.

Shirou chuckled at Ruler's heartfelt concern. "I know," Shirou replied. "But if someone ever needs help, no matter how stupid my actions appear to be, I will still do it just for the sake of saving others."

Ruler nodded in understanding. "You have a kind heart," Ruler responded with a warm smile which made Shirou widened his eyes in surprise as his face tinted a slight red. If his Servant, Saber, were to smile the way this Ruler did, would it be like this also?

"A-Ahh," Shirou stuttered as he averted his sight to the forest beyond them. "I just try to do my best," Shirou said meekly.

Ruler continued to smile gently at Shirou's odd behavior as she approached the homunculus boy leaning by the tree. Kneeling down to face the child at eye level, Ruler extended a helping hand out in the boy's direction. The boy eyed Ruler cautiously for a second before gingerly taking her hand as Ruler stood up slowly, helping the boy on his feet.

"There's no need to be afraid anymore," Ruler began as she fixed her gaze into the boy's eyes as if peering into his soul. "You're free now."

The boy slowly nodded at Ruler's words as if trying to comprehend the very thought of freedom.

"Shall we go?" Shirou asked as he gazed up at the moonlit sky. The countless stars glistening under the night sky, further accenting the sheer beauty and splendor of nature's handiwork.

Ruler nodded in tacit agreement at Shirou's words.

"Go … where?" the child asked as he shakily stood in place, his legs still not having the proper strength and coordination in them despite now being much better compared to when he first got out of the "scientific" cylindric capsules.

"A place where you can be free," Ruler replied for Shirou with another warm and gentle smile. "You can trust me," Ruler continued with soft eyes. "Come."

The child began walking after Ruler until he stepped across the ornate sword Rider handed to him for self-protection. Crouching down and grabbing the sword's hilt, the homunculus child cuddled the blade in his arm as he had a difficult time lugging the weapon with him.

"That's … a bit heavy, isn't it?" Shirou questioned at the silent homunculus boy as Shirou continued to eye the boy's struggling figure. "Do you need help?"

The boy shook his head. "I'm … fine."

Shirou nodded in understanding. "I can help whenever you get tired," Shirou reminded kindly as he walked on a few meters ahead to make sure their path down the forestry hill was safe.

The homunculus child tacitly nodded at Shirou's words as he walked side by side with Ruler while they followed along Shirou's lead.

* * *

Shirou glanced as the distant horizon and the far-off city while resisting a tempting urge to sigh. He should have known it was going to take this long to get down from the hill and to the city. It took him three hours last time to get up the high hill by running, but now with a weak child accompanying them, the trip down the hill took them that much longer.

"I can breathe more easily now," the child suddenly said out loud in the still silence as he continued walking.

Ruler turned around to face the child treading behind her. "You ought to remember that feeling," Ruler said seriously.

" _Uh … where did this conversation come from?"_ Shirou absentmindedly thought in his mind. Was right now really the most appropriate time to talk about breathing easier?

"What do you mean?" the child asked as he looked up from his downcast position and at Ruler's face.

"To live is to endure hardships, and occasionally suffer as well," Ruler then softly smiled as she cocked her head slightly sideways. "But if you remember this sensation, it should give you the courage to keep going."

Shirou now finally understood where the conversation is heading. Fear. Fear comes in many forms and types, most of which Shirou has been subjected to yet has overcome through sheer will alone. However, Shirou was not a fool to think he overcame these obstacles he had in life by himself. His old man, Kiritsugu; Saber; Tohsaka; Sakura; Illya, these people just to name a few have all played a critical role in his life which shaped him to be the man he is today. A man who strives to become a Hero of Justice. To create a world where none will cry anymore.

The brown-haired child looked back down in shame as his face made a grimacing expression. "Courage? I have no such thing."

"Did you not refuse to die but chose life instead?" Ruler stated a thought-provoking question. "You didn't passively accept death, but instead chose a path that required courage," Ruler's expression gentled as she said those words. "I'm sure that's why Rider and Shirou were protecting you with all their might."

"I don't think I did anything as grand as you have described there," Shirou spoke under his breath with an awkward smile and a sheepish rub at the back of his head.

The child shifted his gaze away from Ruler as he looked down at the sword he was carrying with him all along the trip.

"Could that be Rider's sword?" Ruler asked.

"He gave it to me for when I needed it," the child answered Ruler. "Should I have returned it?" the homunculus then asked as he looked back at Ruler's eyes.

Ruler shook her head as her long beautifully braided hair moved along with her motion enchantingly. "If Rider gave it to you, then it's yours to keep."

"I see," the child simply stated as he carried the sword by his side once again before walking down the sloping hill.

Shirou glanced at Ruler to see her for a moment squinting her eyes as if almost in sorrow ... or was it regret? Shirou shook the thought out of his mind, perhaps he was seeing too much into things.

"I just realized," Ruler suddenly began as the child continued walking, "that we have yet properly introduced ourselves."

The child paused in his footsteps. "I don't have a past to introduce. Not even a name."

"Then let's start with that," Ruler smiled as she turned around to face the child who is now ahead of her. "A name is an important piece of one's identity."

The child closed his eyes in pensive thought as the wind breezed through his hair and Western-styled clothing. The grass swayed at the will of the gentle yet strong breeze while the fallen leaves drifted through the air in a hypnotic manner.

"I ... don't know," the child spoke stoically after coming up with nothing to name himself.

"It's alright," Shirou interjected into the conversation. "You can take your time to find a fitting name. But how about we give you a temporary one for now?" Shirou asked.

The child nodded in consent at the idea.

"What about … Yuuki?" Shirou suggested as he gave a quick thought for a temporary name to gift the child.

"Yuuki?" the child made a questioning expression, even Ruler was confused by the weird choice of name.

"It means courage in my mother tongue, Japanese," Shirou explained. "Perhaps, your name will become a constant reminder that you should never run out of courage and that you should always continue to persevere no matter the trials or hardships along your way."

The child nodded. "Okay, then I am Yuuki."

"Yuuki then," Ruler uttered the name as she smiled in the homunculus's direction. "I think it's a wonderful name. Until you find a better name to define yourself, I believe this will serve to define what you should always be."

"Nice to make your acquaintance," Yuuki said emotionlessly.

"Likewise," Ruler said with a beaming smile.

" _That Yuuki,"_ Shirou thought inwardly to himself, _"desperately needs to work on his smile. And fast!"_

"What should I call you?" Yuuki asked as he faced Ruler.

"I'm Servant Ruler, so you can just call me by Ruler," Ruler answered.

"Don't you have a name?" Shirou asked with curiosity. "Or … even the Ruler Class Servants are advised not to reveal their identity?"

Ruler shook her head at the question. "Ruler Class Servants have an overwhelming power and advantage gifted directly from the Grail to go against any other Servants in the war. My true name is Jeanne d'Arc."

"Jeanne d'Arc," Shirou murmured under his breath in surprise. He should have guessed it, with the somewhat weaponized flagpole in her hand as well as her gender and to the way she carried herself so humbly yet with such charisma, Shirou should have known this was none other than the legendary Maid of Orleans recorded in history.

"Is it alright if I call you Jeanne?" Shirou asked with a thoughtful look. "I think it sounds much better than 'Ruler'."

Ruler looked at Shirou as she subtly nodded her head. "Yes, you may. However, please call me 'Ruler' when in public."

Shirou hummed in understanding at the request.

Suddenly a growl made itself known as both Jeanne and Shirou whirled their heads to see the sound originating out of Yuuki's stomach.

A smile made its way up Shirou's lips as Jeanne's face flushed a slight red in mild amusement.

"It seems like someone is hungry," Shirou joked as he chuckled lightly.

Jeanne smiled as well. "Yuuki," Jeanne addressed. "If you would, allow me to show you a vital part of staying alive."

* * *

"Here," Jeanne handed to the homunculus child named Yuuki a ball of pastry. Yuuki met the gauntlet hand with his own as he graciously took the food.

"I never thought you'll bring food with you," Shirou noted with interest. After all, aren't Servants spiritual beings who do not need to sleep, drink, and eat like humans do but only need a constant supply of mana to support their existence?

Yuuki eyed the ball of food with a mixture of confusion and curiosity as he opened his mouth to ask a question. "What is this?"

"That's food. And an army marches on its stomach," Jeanne began explaining.

Yuuki's stomach made another prolonged disturbing growl of agony at the lack of content within it.

"I see," Yuuki spoke as he gazed down on his stomach in apprehension. "So that was what this weird discomfort was all about."

"Go ahead," Jeanne gestured as Yuuki looked at the food in his hands once again before putting it up to his lips and engulfing the pastry.

Chewing for a few seconds, the child's eyes lit up in wonder and awe. "Amazing!"

Jeanne smiled at Yuuki's antics as she continued watching him eat.

"So …" Shirou broke the serene calming silence, "you didn't know you needed to eat?" Shirou carefully approached the question with uncertainty.

Yuuki nodded. "But now I understand."

Shirou met the child's nod with his own. "Sure you do. But … do you happen to know your body needs water too?" Shirou inquired.

"Water?"

"You don't know," Shirou stated dryly. Seeing no response from Yuuki, Shirou sighed as he straightened up his back. "Does your throat feel dry, itchy, or uncomfortable in general?" Shirou asked.

Yuuki nodded. "Yes, it does feel unpleasant."

Yep, this made it official. This homunculus didn't know of the basic concept of survival called "drinking water".

"This is what we call 'thirsty'," Shirou explained clearly as he pronounced the word "thirsty" to place more emphasis on it.

"How do I get rid of it?"

"By drinking water," Shirou spoke sagely. "Do you also happen to have water around you, Jeanne?" Shirou looked to his right to meet Ruler's eyes.

Jeanne shook her head in reply.

"We have food but no water then," Shirou reconfirmed to which Jeanne nodded as Shirou place his hand on his chin in a contemplating manner. "In that case, we have no choice but to arrive at the city tonight to get some water."

Jeanne nodded. "The rural parts of Trifas have some wells posted there. We can draw water there without paying anything for it."

"Wells," Shirou murmured in thought. You don't see those lying around anywhere often in this day and age. But for their situation, the set up active wells have come in handy. "Then we better get going. I'm estimating two more hours before we get there."

Jeanne nodded. "Do you feel better now, Yuuki?" Jeanne kindly asked.

Yuuki nodded his head. "I can continue. Thank you for the food."

Jeanne beamed a smile at the child. "My pleasure."

* * *

"The enemies seem to have taken Spartacus," a man's calming voice resounded the interior building of the simple church as the moon shone its light through the windows of the building.

"Nothing we could have done," a man with pasture green hair stated in a nonchalant manner. "He just ran in by himself."

"We had no way to save him," another stoic voice came from the opposite side of the warrior. Her feminine features radiating under the moonlight, showing her unique physiques by having a tail extended from her lower back and a pair of furry ears on her head much like an animal would.

"If you say so, then I have no reason to doubt you," the man clothed in a priest-like attire replied.

"By the way," the same man continued from his last sentence, "what had happened in the battlefield? A command seal was issued on you, Archer."

"It was a magus," a man on the opposite side of the church answered for Archer. "He had witnessed our battle."

"A magus," the priest looked down at the tile floor before presenting a question. "Then has he been eliminated yet?"

The Hero nodded his head. "The circumstances were absurd. He died from having swords piercing from the insides of his body."

"Archer?"

Archer nodded her head in confirmation to the Servant Rider's words. "We have yet to understand what happened. But we are sure he has no affiliation with either the Mage's Association or Yggdmillennia."

The white-haired man with exotic earrings that took the form of blades nodded with closed and contemplative eyes. "I will not ask what command was issued, Archer," he began. "but I suggest you be mindful of your further doings."

Archer chose to speak nothing at the comment but nod her head subtly in acknowledgment as the still night continued to roll by.

* * *

"Thank you very much!" Jeanne gave a grateful bow at the elderly man sitting on a rocking chair out in the front porch of his house before Jeanne came running up back to where Shirou and Yuuki were in the distance.

"I never knew she wore a school uniform," Shirou noted with interest. "Wonder what Saber would look like in that …" Shirou trailed off in an incoherent mumble.

"What did you say?" Yuuki asked as he glanced up at Shirou.

"A-ah, nothing!"

Yuuki turned his attention back to the running Jeanne and disregarded Shirou's strange behavior.

"His name is Serge," Jeanne stopped in front of Yuuki and Shirou as she spoke. "He's agreed to let us stay for the night and is willing to take care of you both for however long you need."

"Thanks for helping, Jeanne," Shirou grinned with gratitude.

"I do not deserve the thanks," Jeanne replied. "You should thank Serge for his hospitality."

Shirou tacitly nodded in agreement. "You're right."

Walking together back to the inside of the house as the old man showed to them each of their rooms, with a last word of thanks, Shirou, Jeanne, and Yuuki retired to their individual beds for the night.

Shirou closed the door to his room as walked up to the window side wall while gazing up at the beautiful starry night. Although Fuyuki City was beautiful and amazing in its own right, Trifas City made Fuyuki's nightly beauty pale in comparison. With the lack of pollution in the air, the glistening stars in the night sky seemed to look all the more vibrant in its glamorous glory.

Shirou stepped a couple paces back until he touched the edge of the bed before he sat on the side of it in pensive thought.

"Trace On!" Shirou whispered under his own breath as mana began to take form to show Kanshou and Bakuya firmly rested in his hands.

This is a practice Shirou found himself doing daily every night back in his hometown. Although he didn't excel in magecraft – one can even go so far as calling him being inept – it was still something he trained every single day without fail as hard as he could.

Slowly rubbing his index finger on the smooth flat backside of the blade, Shirou fixed his eyes on the sword as memories of the very man who used these swords to its full potential crossed his mind.

"You think you can match me?!" Archer had yelled at Shirou right after he brutally killed Caster with a raining barrage of swords. "Your projections are weak! They are hollow and lack the definition for its existence!" Archer's twin blades cleaved through Shirou' projections as if without effort while Shirou barely avoided getting sliced into two.

Shirou promptly opened his eyes after the flashback as saw himself back in the familiar surrounding of his temporary room. "Hollow huh …" Shirou murmured quietly to himself. Maybe he can try figuring out what Archer meant.

Closing his eyes in concentration, Shirou uttered the two words to his incantation.

"Trace On!"

Neon green Magic Circuits all lit up in unison on Shirou's arm as they traveled down the length of his arms to the projected Noble Phantasm as Shirou performed the magecraft, Structural Analysis, on it. Sure enough, as Archer has stated in the past, the projections he created were hollow. They were fundamentally flawed.

" _I aM tHe BoNe oF my sWoRd."_

Shirou snapped open his eyes at the sudden distorted ominous voice in his head as Shirou darted his eyes left and right around his surrounding in caution. Seeing no one, Shirou frowned in thought wondering where the source of sound came from.

Shirou dismissed his blades back to pure mana as he gave an inaudible yawn. Maybe he was just too tired from all the bizarre events that have transpired in the short few hours he's been awake. Lying down on the straw made bed, Shirou closed his eyes as he drifted peacefully into his sleep.

* * *

Jeanne gracefully stood up from her kneeling position after her prayer as she let down her braided hair and swiftly changed into her sleeping gown. She knew the Grail has called her from the Throne of Heroes to act as an Overseer for the Great Holy Grail War. However, something was wrong … fundamentally wrong. Her summons as a Servant failed, forcing her to inhabit in an innocent person's body as a vessel for her to exist in this world.

Jeanne then placed away her folded clothes neatly to the side before she sat down on the edge of the bed. The homunculus, Yuuki, Jeanne could see a grim fate awaiting him. The very laws of fate are going to force that child to fight in the Grail Wars whether or not she approved of it. However, everything changed when she met the man named Emiya Shirou.

Jeanne got a brief vision of the hero, Siegfried, killing himself for the boy. Although she did not know of the reasons, she was sure what should have transpired tonight never did. And it was because of one unprecedent variable, the red-haired Japanese magus, Emiya Shirou.

Jeanne let out a breath of confusion as she proceeded to lie on the bed. Could Fate have accidentally missed him as a factor in the Grail Wars? Jeanne shook away the thought the moment it popped into her head, it was impossible for such a thing to happen. Yet … it's almost as if the man's very existence defies the very laws of fate itself.

Closing her eyes in tranquil silence as her face relaxed peacefully, Jeanne released the insurmountable unanswered questions in her mind as she drifted into the soothing embrace of slumber.

That night, Ruler, Jeanne d'Arc, dreamt of swords.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **New story out named** _ **Blades of Fate**_ **! This is a back in time to Britain story where Shirou summons Saber Lily and Saber Alter, more details can be read in the story summary under my profile page. Also, for those interested, I am looking for a BETA READER for that story as well. Please PM me if you think you are up for the task!**

 **Lastly, A LOT of people have been wondering about the pairings in this story. So far, the top three popular choices are – Atalanta, Jeanne, and Arturia (in no particular order). There are also some people who are interested in Mordred as well.**

 **To put it simply on how the pairing(s) of this story will work, during the course of this fiction, I will be holding a public vote via poll which can be found at the top of my profile page in the FUTURE that will allow readers to vote for their favorite pairing(s) which they hope to see implemented in the fiction. Obviously, the one with the highest vote will be chosen to be implemented in the story.**

 **Thank you for reading and please review on this story chapter and tell me what you guys think about it. Also, please tell me what pairings you guys will like to see in the future so I can get a general idea and understanding on what is popular and what's not.**

* * *

 **List of future updates:**

 **Next week:** ** _Apocryphal Hero_**

 **Week 2:** ** _Blades of Fate (2 chapters in a week)_**

 **Week 3:** ** _Fate/Blade Zero_**

 **After week 3, I'm sorry to say that updates may become more irregular due to school semesters starting up once again, so I doubt I will be able to keep up the same pace as I have been going at for the past two months. However, there should definitely be at least one story update per month. If I can remain the status quo during school semesters I will, but I honestly have no idea what kind of workload I should expect when school begins. So … no promises. Hope you understand! – SteelBlades333**


	4. Trifas City

_**Chapter 3 – Trifas City**_

The chime of shrilling metals impacting each other with an irregular and fast-paced beat resonated throughout the deserted plains of unending swords.

Jeanne opened her eyes to an entirely new surrounding than that of her bedroom in shock as she gazed at the odd scenery. Where is this place?

Suddenly a girl's enraged yet agonizing yell pierced through the depressing land of regrets. "ARCHERRRRRRR! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

Jeanne immediately whirled around to the source of shout to see above the sloping small hills a girl trapped in a cage of swords.

Shifting her eyes over in the distance beside the shouting girl, Jeanne saw the silhouettes of two figures charging at each other with defiant roars as their swords met with thundering force. Two identical pairs of black and white blades met with a fiery spark as they for a second struggled against each other for dominance before a white-haired man clothed in a red and black attire disengaged the clashing blades and kicked his opponent powerfully in between the ribs.

Jeanne glanced over at the fallen figure as the man stood right back again with unwavering determination and resolve while his red hair fluttered in the desert breeze. Jeanne's eyes widened when she recognized the beaten figure of the person she just met not even a day ago.

"Shirou?" Jeanne murmured aloud in shock. Why is he here?

Looking down at her body, Jeanne saw herself donned in her traditional armor but without her signature flagpole by her side. Jeanne nodded her head in understanding at the implications. This was another revelation given by the Grail itself in the form of the dream. And this time, the Grail chose Shirou as her subject of observation.

Jeanne always assumed that revelations are only able to allow her to peer into the future, but looking again at the intense scene, Jeanne began to doubt the validity behind the thought as the seconds passed by. Regardless, the only way for her to make sure is to ask the man, Shirou, himself. And for some reason, Jeanne knew the noble spirit named Shirou would tell her the truth.

The blades clashed again with an intense shrilling chime as the red-headed Shirou was flung several meters back roughly. Jeanne's frown continued to grow as she further witnessed the ongoing spectacle. Whatever this memory or revelation is, Jeanne was sure the white-haired and tan skinned individual is no normal human. He was simply too powerful for that.

Suddenly, the battle took a new turn in events when the girl in the cage reached out her hands in front of her as she chanted an aria to create a Master and Servant contract.

Jeanne widened her eyes at the familiar words that were uttered out of the girl's lips. It can't be …

But everything came to a sudden halt when a sword materialized out of thin air and shot out with lightning speed right at the girl, giving her a deliberate small cut across her shoulders. The girl immediately sagged in defeat once the white-haired Servant had successfully broken her concentration, consequently making the built-up mana that she had gathered earlier harmlessly dissipate in the air.

Gazing past the girl, Jeanne stared intensely at the fallen figure of a golden-haired girl wearing a white bridal-like dress. Was she the Servant the girl attempted to contract to? Jeanne had numerous questions running through her head, but none of that matter now as she continued to witness the absurd scene.

"This is the end, Emiya Shirou. This is the result behind the failure of the ideals you borrowed that were never yours!" the Servant clothed in red and black roared as half a hundred blades came out of the desert landscape and began floating in the air, forming a straight line above the Servant with all the blades directed at the tattered form of Shirou as the swords vibrated and glowed with energy.

Jeanne couldn't help but widened her eyes in surprise. There was no way Shirou can survive this onslaught! The sheer power displayed right now is on the level of a Noble Phantasm!

Both of the trapped and fallen women gave an agonizing and desperate cry as they began to witness the end of Emiya Shirou. However, Shirou, with unwavering and determined eyes that spoke of the great lengths of his resolve gave a defiant roar as he brought his two projected blades up in front of him, facing the barrage of swords head on without any regrets.

With each sword heading straight for Shirou, Shirou struck it down with pinpoint accuracy that no normal human could achieve. However, despite the sheer skills Shirou possessed, it was clear to anybody seeing the battle that there was a massive gap in skills, experience, and strength between the two combating individuals.

Not even a second had passed when a whizzing sword flew past Shirou's defenses, puncturing his right arm. Shirou's grip on his sword slackened for a split second when in a blink of an eye another sword shot out with lightning speed, severing his left wrist upon contact.

Jeanne resisted the urge to run up the sloping deserted hill of blades and help the severely injured Shirou which the two helpless girls are desperately hoping to save. The Grail is showing her this, and for a reason too.

Looking up with defiance and gritted teeth, Shirou bore through the tormenting pain when a blade pierced through his heart, making him stumble back before kneeling onto the ground in defeat.

Shirou was beyond saving. He was going to die no matter what.

Giving what can be considered as a fleeting smile in the two girl's direction, Shirou coughed up a pool of blood before collapsing on the deserted plains of lamentations.

"A-Archer," Jeanne continued to watch with a grim face as Shirou whispered aloud while blood continued to flow out of his body without rest, "even b-before d-d-death, I know m-my b-borrowed ide-eals are w-worth d-dying for!"

With that ending statement, Jeanne's vision of the dream began to quickly distort and fade away as one lingering image remained constantly in her head – a pair of black and white swords. Blades which carried no pride in them but are only used for the purpose to save and kill. The weapons that defined Emiya Shirou's very identity.

After that, Jeanne woke up with an unsettling and pained expression on her face. Who is … the red-haired magus, Emiya Shirou?

* * *

Shirou looked around his pitch black surrounding as his conscience drifted in the infinite expanse of nothingness.

" _I'm here again,"_ Shirou mentally noted as the feeling of a looming and vile existence nagged Shirou's senses from all around him.

"You're back," a malicious sounding voice resounded through the unending space.

Shirou "nodded" his head tacitly in reply. "Why am I here?" Shirou immediately asked, this being the second time around he's been around this empty expanse.

Shirou felt what can be equivalent as an uncaring shrug. "You're here cause we made a contract, boy."

Shirou began to feel his "tongue" going dry. A contract with this "thing"? Since when?!

"How?" Shirou asked once more.

"You should know better than anyone," the voice said again. "You were the one who called for me."

What? How was this even possible. Since when did he called for and contracted with this ethereal being?

"Tch, you don't understand, huh?" the voice scoffed aloud as the sound resonated in the empty space. "How about this," the voice paused for a moment before continuing, "what do you know about the Holy Grail?"

Shirou's "eyes" narrowed at the thought. Where is this being getting at?

"The Holy Grail is an omnipotent wish-granting device," Shirou complied in giving an answer as he recollected the countless infamous lectures Tohsaka gave him.

"And how does it go about granting that wish?" the voice questioned once more as a killing and malicious intent could be felt from everywhere.

Shirou made a contemplating "expression" at the thought-provoking question. How was it that Tohsaka went about explaining the mind-boggling concept again?

"It's through the deaths of Heroic Spirits," Shirou began to recite from memory what he knew. "When six Heroic Spirits are killed and its mana stored in the Holy Grail, the sheer power from the magical energy alone is enough to be able to grant virtually any wish."

"Last question," the voice spoke, "how does it go about granting that wish?"

Shirou felt a chill crawling up his spine the moment the spoken sentence ended. What was that all about?

"Uhhh … through mana?" Shirou suggested helplessly as silence met his lackluster answer.

"I … guess that wasn't correct, then," Shirou gave a sheepish rub on the back of his "head" in awkwardness. "Then … do you mean through Third Magic?" Shirou changed his answer after a little more thought, remembering hearing once Tohsaka explaining to him about Illya having access to Third Magic and her being the Lesser Grail and a bunch of other stuff which Shirou couldn't recall properly. Although Tohsaka Rin, all things considered, is a great teacher, this was what happens when she gets carried away with her lectures, Shirou only ends up absorbing less than ten percent of the entire spoken lesson despite his best efforts.

"Tch," the voice spat out, "you don't know anything."

Now that wasn't fair. Yes, Shirou does admit that when it comes to magecraft and the Grail Wars, he knew close to nothing about it. However, that doesn't mean he was completely unknowledgeable about it either. He went through many somewhat painstaking lessons with Tohsaka to ensure that he was at least educated about the complexities behind the Grail Wars … although he never got the chance to fully understand everything especially when his fight with Archer got out of hand which resulted, in the end, him waking up in an entirely new continent in the world.

"The grail always grants its wish through …" the voice spat out evilly as Shirou mentally gulped at the malice-filled presence, "… destruction," the voice hissed out in the end as Shirou widened his eyes.

"Wha—?!" Shirou gave an exclamation of shock as he "backstepped" from the lurking and omnipresent being. What does this all mean?

Suddenly, a flash of memory raced through Shirou's mind as the vivid scene of an inferno of flames encompassing all around him while people desperately reached out their hands and pleaded with agonizing cries to be saved from damnation repeated in Shirou's head. Shirou knew from Kirei that the incident ten years ago was the result of the Grail Wars spinning out of control due to the Masters' ambitions, but does that mean …?

"How?" Shirou croaked out. Why will the Holy Grail only deliver its wishes through the means of destruction? Wasn't pure mana supposed to be multipurpose in having the ability to be able to do anything?

"The corruption of the Grail is because of mankind's collective wish," the voice spoke. "To have a person to carry the burden of all their sins, to become the sacrifice for the coming slaughter, to become their sole salvation. And this is what gave birth to 'All the World's Sin'."

"… Angra Mainyu," Shirou uttered aloud as his eyes widened in realization.

The no-named being called Angra Mainyu gave a deprecate snicker, "Yup, and that will be none other than me."

Shirou couldn't believe it. This was what he was facing against for these past two encounters? The personification of all of humanity's sin throughout history? Then why … why would he be contracted with him? What is the meaning of all this?!

"Then how? How are you contracted to me?" Shirou asked in a low whisper, not sure how to process the mind-boggling and shocking revelation that is unheard of.

Shirou could almost feel a sardonic grin tugging on the Angra Mainyu's lips. "Because … you made a wish," with that looming voice in the distance, Shirou was brought back to the world of reality again as Shirou sat straight up under the moonlit sky.

There was only one thing Shirou could think of at that very moment: Who or what is Angra Mainyu?

* * *

"Good morning!" Shirou cheerfully greeted as he glanced over at the walking form of Yuuki who had apparently just woken up while Shirou is drawing water from the well not too far away from the house they were currently living in.

Yuuki rubbed his eyes once before looking straight at Shirou impassively. "Good morning," Yuuki said monotonously.

Shirou resisted the urge to sigh aloud. For now, he had plenty of time to teach Yuuki how a smile could change the world and make a huge difference in a person's life. However, there is one thing that took higher precedence right now.

"Do you mind carrying this one back?" Shirou asked with a warm smile as he gestured over to a small bucket of drawn water to his side while Shirou carried two of the significantly larger ones on both of his hands.

Yuuki slowly nodded as he walked over to the miniature bucket at Shirou's request.

Not bothering to test out the weight of the water, Yuuki without hesitation lifted the bucket as he quickly stabilized his balance before walking ahead of Shirou.

Shirou smiled at the earnest way Yuuki carried himself with. Neglecting Yuuki's lack of knowledge on knowing how to express his emotions, at the very least Yuuki was helpful.

"Is Jeanne awake?" Shirou offhandedly asked as he sped up his pace to get to the boy's side.

Yuuki shook his head in reply. "I don't know. I have not seen her yet."

"Hmmm, is that so," Shirou murmured quietly under his breath. "Well," Shirou began once more, this time speaking with normal speaking volumes, "if she's still in bed, you can help me call her up once I finish cooking up breakfast."

Yuuki looked at Shirou with a confused expression. "Do you mean food?" Yuuki reconfirmed in question.

Shirou nodded. "Food in the morning is called 'breakfast'," Shirou explained clearly. "And in case you never knew, 'cooking' is the one of the processes in making food … or more accurately, redesigning pre-existing food."

Yuuki nodded his head in understanding though Shirou wasn't sure how much of what he had just said actually got into the boy's head. "I see, then I will call Jeanne when you are finished with …" Yuuki paused for a second before continuing, "… breakfast."

Shirou gave a mental thumbs up at Yuuki for remembering the new term.

"In the meantime," Shirou started once again after a brief silence ensued as they approached their lodging place, "I need to pick up some eggs. You can first go ahead and bring the water back."

"Sure," Yuuki said stoically as he subtly nodded his head before going on ahead.

Shirou shook his head in disproval as he smiled in exasperated amusement. Shirou is going to make sure that the child knows what it's truly like to live. And Shirou was going to accomplished that through … the art of cooking.

"Now …" Shirou murmured to himself in thought, "where can I find the eggs …?"

* * *

The sound of sizzling oil and the heavenly smell of cheese and butter permeated in the room with a powerful aromatic scent. Putting the last finishing touches on the handmade dish in the pan, Shirou turned off the rusty stove which he painstakingly cleaned off early in the morning with a satisfied grin. Quickly tilting the cast iron pan onto the plates beside it, Shirou scraped the borders of the pan with his spatula to nudge the food in its final destination.

Although the dish before him is considered a relatively simple Western dish he created from the limited supplies he had available, Shirou was nevertheless proud of himself that he is able to swiftly create something with the barest of options. If he were to be placed under the same position as he was under now a couple years ago, Shirou knew he would have been in a bit of a predicament at the lack of ingredients available for him to use.

"Here you go," Shirou announced with a grin as he handed three plates of breakfast over to Jeanne, Yuuki, and the elderly man named Serge respectively.

"What …" Yuuki paused as he gave an involuntary waft at the heavenly aroma, "is this?"

"That," Shirou pointed at what was in Yuuki's plate, "is a rolled up pancake with cheese inside and the yellow and white food by the side of it would be the eggs I collected from Serge's small chicken farm."

"Egg and cheese pancake," Jeanne murmured in wonder. "I've never known they smell this good," Jeanne continued to speak under her own breath as if talking only to herself.

Shirou gave another warm smile. "Eat up," Shirou gestured as he dug into his own meal.

While Shirou was absorbed in his own thoughts as he ate, Shirou was quick to put a pause in what he was doing when absolute silence met his ears instead of the usual flurry of silverwares clinging on the plates or bowls. Glancing up, Shirou saw everybody including even Yuuki were all staring at the food before them as if it were a …

"Are … you guys okay?" Shirou asked slowly with uncertainty. Was something wrong or not to their liking?

"Shirou," Jeanne began as she continued to fix her eyes on the partly bitten cheese pancake, "did you make this?"

"Yeah," Shirou said with a tinge of embarrassment. "I decided to try something new today since I had nothing to make some Japanese food for you guys to try, I hope I did it to your liking …" Shirou trailed off with an awkward smile.

"This?" Jeanne asked incredulously as if shocked Shirou would suggest such a preposterous idea. "Shirou, this … is very good!" Jeanne exclaimed with disbelief. "Since when can you cook?"

"A while ago," Shirou answered with a relieved smile. It was through his old man, Kiritsugu's, lack in both ability and knowledge to cook anything nutritional and decent was Shirou forced early on to learn how to cook for both him and his father … not that he minded having the extra responsibility.

At the very least, the legendary Servant, Jeanne d'Arc, seems to be enjoying her food. Shirou just wondered if she had a similar appetite to his Servant Saber, if so … Shirou could feel a mixture of delight and dread settling in his stomach. It's always good that someone enjoys his food, Shirou obviously had no qualms about that. However … disaster will set loose on this household's meager food supplies if she is anything near like a certain Saber glutton.

"Haha," the elderly man named Serge chuckled, "it seems like I have to thank you, young maiden, to introduce to me such a fine man!" Serge praised aloud while Jeanne tried desperately hard to ignore the unfinished food below her and onto the talking man. "If my daughter were not already wed, I would have asked you to consider marrying her," Serge revealed with a wide grin.

"M-M-MARRY?!" Shirou stuttered out in outrage.

"And cheese pancakes," Serge continued as he shook his head in tacit amusement, "what inspired you to cook this unique dish, young man?"

"You can call me Shirou," Shirou said before answering the question. "I was originally going to follow through with the traditional Western sweet pancakes, but … pancakes without honey or syrup can become a little bland," Shirou explained hoping not to offend the man by indirectly suggesting that he didn't have the necessary cooking supplies for him to work fully with. "So, I decided to settle with cheese since that is something you have a lot of."

Serge gave another soft chuckle. "I'm glad you made good use of the goat cheese I've stored away. There is no way I can finish all that myself!"

"Did you used to raise goats before?" Shirou inquired, having seen the unbelievable amount of cheese stored in the huge back cabinet in the kitchen. Shirou found it unlikely that Serge bought all that cheese simply because he wanted to or on the whim. Serge looked to Shirou as a much more careful and not an easily gullible man.

Serge gave a warm gentle smile at Shirou's question. "Ah, yes. I raised a couple of goats since my early years with my wife. But, my body is no longer able to keep up with the menial effort in taking care of them anymore. So, I had to give it to a distant nephew to raise the new young goats to good health in my place!"

"You have a wife?" Yuuki asked in between bites with innocence as Shirou inwardly winced at the question. For some reason, Shirou was sure the upcoming conversation is headed for no good. Not only does Yuuki need to work on expressing his emotions, more specifically his smile, but also he needs to work on the art of common sense … something Shirou wasn't entirely sure he was qualified in teaching considering how Tohsaka and even occasionally Saber and Sakura scolded him for being reckless, or in other words, his lack of common sense. Perhaps Jeanne will help out if he asked …

Serge looked up to the ceiling as if reminiscing a fond memory. "Yes, I had a wife for the longest time. But …" Serge paused as he gave a melancholy yet peaceful smile, "she is no longer in this world and has moved on to the next."

Everyone has stopped their rapid and frantic eating movements as they stared at Serge while he recounted the distant memory.

"She died," Yuuki stated impassively as he looked down at his own food in contemplation.

Shirou gave a dry look at Yuuki. How dense and unintentionally insensitive could this homunculus kid be? Regardless, Yuuki seems to have an uncanny knack for it.

"What was it like?" Yuuki asked with a troubled expression on his face.

Shirou's eyes bulged out at the unbelievable question as he mentally cursed in his head. Did Yuuki really asked that question earlier?! Even Jeanne who was innocently grabbing another bite from the cheese pancake choked midbite.

"Hmmm," the elderly man hummed as he leaned back on his wooden chair in thought. "It was … peaceful," Serge gave a finalized answer.

Yuuki looked up as his troubled face quickly morphed into a confused one. Even Shirou wasn't quite sure what Serge meant by his unexpected statement.

Serge nodded with a small smile on his face. "Yes, she was terribly ill and was dying in her deathbed. She died singing an old hymn while I held her hand. She left with a soft smile on her face."

"A … smile?" Yuuki uttered as his eyes widened.

Shirou and Jeanne gave a soft smile at where the conversation is heading.

Serge nodded sagely. "Yes, a smile without any regrets left in this world. And because she has no regrets, she can pass on with a peace in mind."

"Does it … not hurt?" Yuuki asked as a pained expression crossed his face.

Serge gave a melancholy yet relaxed smile at the question. "Of course it will. It is because of these feelings that we are humans. However, even the dead will not want us to mourn for them forever. If they can die in peace, then why shouldn't we the living continue to freely live in peace?"

"To live freely?" Yuuki murmured before looking up at Serge. "What does it mean to be free?"

"To be free?" Serge reconfirmed slowly as he looked intently at Yuuki's small figure. "It would be to not follow others' expectations of you but obeying what your heart says."

"But … what if what I want to do tramples someone else's wish?" Yuuki furthered question with slight hesitation.

Shirou gazed at the entire exchange of conversation with a befuddled expression. Where is Yuuki getting at?

Serge closed his eyes calmly before looking straight at Yuuki's once more. "Be it parent-child, people and environment, society and law, and more; everyone has ties to something."

"Bonds," Yuuki murmured to himself in realization while he looked down on the table.

"That's why it's impossible for us to live as we please. Because even if I want to live following my heart, I am still tied to something. So, to be free is to have the freedom of thought. And when the time comes, to accept the responsibility from what you've done." Serge ended with a firm conclusion that left no room for doubt.

Even if the world is one day subjected under an unthrowable tyrant, the people can always remain themselves deep down inside their soul because there, they are free from the shackles of their oppressors. We all are free because we have the freedom of thought and each of us are ourselves.

Shirou unconsciously glanced over to the painting behind Serge as Shirou quickly recognized the masterpiece on site as _The Gleaners_. If Shirou remembered correctly, the painting was drawn by a non-Japanese man by the name Jean something …

Although it was clear that the famous painting is not the authentic piece, the message it carried was still nevertheless clear. No matter how weak and regardless of what standing you have in society, if one is willing to put in the effort into surviving, they will ultimately live. And even if the world is full of setbacks and disappointments no matter how much effort is exerted by the person, their story and enduring example will be passed on to others, allowing them to glean understanding and perseverance from their predecessors.

Even though the women depicted in the picture seemed to have no free will but are only capable of gleaning the grains after the harvest for food, it spoke of the insurmountable determination all the women held to help themselves and their family to survive, no matter the costs on their behalf.

If one has not given up on life, then they are destined to do great things, but only if they are willing to work for it. Whether the outcome is favorable or not, wise people end up finding out that it was the process towards the goal that was often the most rewarding. The relationships that were built, the trials that were overcome, the failures they learn from, all of these are rewards for an enduring and persevering person.

"I'm sorry …" Yuuki said as he looked at his plate of food in downcast. "But I guess I still don't get it."

How dense can you be?! Shirou wanted to shout that phrase out in disbelief. The elderly man of the house, Serge, had explained everything crystal clear to Yuuki yet he still doesn't get any of it. Shirou calmed his rushing thoughts as he nodded in understanding towards Yuuki's discouraged yet emotionless expression. Yuuki is a homunculus that was just born into this world, having no knowledge of anything human, he was akin to a newborn babe learning everything at once.

To experience emotions he's never had, the homunculus child was bound to be confused at one point or another. All Shirou, Jeanne, and also Serge can do is to guide and lead him, but however, let him walk on his own two feet as he comes to understand what it truly means to be human.

"Think well about it," Serge said calmly as he stood up from his chair. "What you really want, what you really wish for," with that statement, Serge headed over to the kitchen as he ruffled through some of the appliances set up there.

"My true wish …" Yuuki murmured under his own breath as he folded his hands in front of him in pensive thought while Jeanne directed him a worried and concerned look.

"Now then," Serge spoke aloud as he interrupted the short-lived silence, "would you guys like some coffee?" Serge asked with a cheerful smile.

Shirou grinned at the kind consideration. "Sure, I'll help," Shirou offered.

Serge nodded in thanks with a beaming smile of his own.

"Shirou!" Jeanne quickly called out once Shirou rushed over to the kitchen. "Seconds please!"

Shirou staggered in his footsteps at the infamous phrase he hears far too commonly for the past several years in Japan with Taiga and Saber. "Ah, sure, just wait a moment!"

"I am in your debt," Jeanne widely grinned with joy.

Shirou shook his head in amused exasperation. There was no refusing her after she says that with such a big smile. Whether Jeanne knew it or not, that smile can sure be manipulative at times. Or maybe that was her extraordinarily high Charisma rank at work here?

Rolling up his sleeves, Shirou glanced above at the overtop shelves above him. Now then … where are the coffee beans and cheese again?

* * *

"Shirou, where are we going?" Yuuki's voice sounded as the trio consisting of Shirou, Yuuki, and Jeanne walked in the sparsely populated classical roads of Trifas.

"Ah, that," Shirou mumbled as he spared a glance at the unaware Jeanne. "I'm planning to find a part-time job to work at so we can buy more food to fill up the now emptied kitchen … leaving out the cheese that we still have plenty of, of course."

Yuuki nodded his head in understanding as he looked straight back at the road ahead.

"Also," Shirou continued where he left off, "Jeanne, you mentioned that you had an errand you needed to run, right?" Shirou asked in confirmation.

Jeanne subtly nodded her head as she suddenly stopped in the middle of a crossroad. Darting her eyes right and left, Jeanne knelt down on the ground as she pressed her hand onto the uneven tiled roads once she confirmed that no one is in the vicinity. Closing her eyes, Jeanne pushed mana through her hands as a shining magic circle appeared from under her palm. The magic circle then shot out a golden shining beam of light across the road at Jeanne's left side as if directing her somewhere.

Opening her eyes back again, Jeanne stood up gracefully as she looked up at the building on top of a small hill to the left side of her.

"There?" Jeanne murmured aloud as she trailed off while she gazed up at the old looking church up the hill.

"Is … something wrong?" Shirou tentatively asked. Although Shirou thought the whole trick with magic circles and guiding lights being pretty cool, Shirou knew magic in general is rarely used as a means for entertainment. It was always only used to obtain a goal.

Jeanne shook her head in reply. "No, but the Grail has been trying to guide me in this direction since my summoning. I am trying to figure out the irregularities behind this Grail War."

"Irregularities?" Shirou murmured in thought. There seemed to be quite a bit of those in the Grail Wars for some special reason.

Jeanne nodded. "The Grail has for unknown reasons failed to summon me, forcing me to possess a willing soul's body as a substitute method. The girl who graciously lent me this body is called Laeticia."

"Wait, what?! Then—"

"She is safe," Jeanne interrupted Shirou's train of thought when he trailed off into an incoherent jumble. "It would be best described as I am a shell around her body. Any injuries inflicted on me will be of no harm to her," Jeanne explained.

"Still sounds dangerous," Shirou said with uncertainty before relenting to the idea. If Laeticia did truly and willingly give her body to Jeanne temporarily, then Shirou had no right to refuse such a sacrificial willingness.

"Is that why you eat?" Yuuki suddenly asked after being silent for most of the conversation.

That … is actually a good question, Shirou thought absently in his mind.

Jeanne nodded seriously at the comment. "Possessing a human's body handicaps a Servant's true potential. Although I can still carry out my duty as a Ruler Class Servant, I am still bound by the daily problems a human will have to deal with on a regular basis. Hunger and thirst are one of them."

"So that's why you need food and water, without it, Laeticia will not be able to survive," Shirou spoke in realization.

"That is correct."

"But, is that it?" Shirou questioned. After all, food and water aren't too much of a hassle for a Heroic Spirit even if it's a necessary for living. In fact, although Shirou's Servant, Saber, is capable of going without food and water, she still nevertheless partakes in the daily necessities of a normal person just because she wants to. Or perhaps more accurately, because he insisted in the beginning for her to partake in their meals since he didn't feel like he was being a great host if he was neglecting Saber by excluding her out of their "family's" dining times.

"Contrary to common understanding," Ruler began to answer Shirou's question, "although I and Laeticia share the same body, we do not have two separate personalities."

"What?!" Shirou yelped out. Ruler didn't mean she literally fused her own individuality into Laeticia, did she?!

"Because of Laeticia's compatibility and her faith in me, Laeticia accepted me into her body completely. While I remain as the main dominant consciousness, Laeticia's self and consciousness still linger."

"Sounds … tough," Shirou commented, having a hard time fathoming how such an arrangement could work.

"It isn't as bad as you think it is," Ruler gave a soft smile. "For example, during my life I grew up as a peasant, making me unable to read and write. However, because of Laeticia's consciousness combined with mine own, I am able to use her knowledge in concerns outside of the Grail Wars."

"Then you can read and write now?" Shirou confirmed as he rubbed his chin in thought. Maybe dual consciousness does have its perks … not that he'll ever want to try it out unless absolutely necessary for some special reason.

Jeanne nodded. "Yes, I am able to read everything here in Romania."

As if on cue to Jeanne's words, Shirou looked up at an overhead sign by the roadside written in Romanian. Although Shirou knew he had no prior knowledge of reading, writing, or speaking the native language here, Shirou is stunned by the fact that he is still able to understand the content behind it.

"That …" Shirou pointed at the overhead sign he was eyeing all along, "means 'bakery', right?" Shirou tentatively asked.

"Huh? You know Romanian?" Jeanne asked with a hint of surprise.

Shirou shook his head in reply. "Not even a bit, but for some reason, I am able to understand it … subconsciously at least."

"Hmmm," Jeanne frowned as she hummed in thought.

"Not only that," Shirou continued. "Every Romanian person I come across is speaking Japanese. And I'm beginning to think it's me that's having the problem here and not the natives."

"So you hear Japanese instead of Romanian?" Jeanne clarified.

Shirou nodded. "If I focus specifically on what they're saying, I can hear them speaking Romanian, however, if I just walk past them not paying too much attention to what they're saying, the words come out as Japanese. Do you think you know any reasons on why is it like this?"

Jeanne shook her head as she glanced at Yuuki, to which Yuuki also shook his head in answer.

"Well," Shirou placed his arms behind his head in a relaxed manner, "other than the odd language problem which I'm thankful of if not for the fact that I don't know its origins, I'm glad that I'm still myself. Does … it feel right to merge your personality with another person?" Shirou asked Jeanne, concern evident on his face.

Jeanne gave a reassuring smile at Shirou's heartfelt concern. "Although Laeticia's and my personality are largely the same which is proven through my possession of her, there are still some differences that can be difficult to overcome."

"Like?" Yuuki asked out of curiosity.

"Well …" Jeanne began thinking as she placed her fingertip on her chin while the trio continued walking up the hill. "An example would be I have this almost unnatural urge to pat your head right now, Yuuki," Jeanne said with a straight face before smiling at Yuuki.

Yuuki widened his eyes in shock as if he just realized his best friend was all along a girl instead of a boy.

"Don't worry, Yuuki," Jeanne reassured, "I won't pat you if you don't like it."

Yuuki gave a sigh of relief before he heard Jeanne murmuring under her breath to herself, "I think," as Yuuki quickly went back on guard.

"A head pat?" Shirou made a confused expression at the revelation. Of all things, it just had to be a head pat. Shirou glanced sympathetically at the confused Yuuki after seeing the rapid transformation in Jeanne's character.

"It's alright, Yuuki-kun," Shirou spoke as he involuntarily added the honorific suffix behind the child's name. "It's a thing for girls, once you aren't like this anymore," Shirou continued while gesturing over at Yuuki's young figure, "you should be safe."

"Oh, is that so," Yuuki stated monotonously in wonder.

"… Maybe," Shirou added with a strained chuckle and an awkward smile.

Although his half-sister Illya is older than he is, Illyasviel, being a homunculus, had her growth stunted, making her forever remain in her childish form despite even having a human father. So, chances are for Yuuki, a pure homunculus, to grow out of his child phase … it slim to none according to Shirou's deductions.

"Well, Jeanne," Shirou began with a warm and sincere grin as he held out his hand in front of her, "if you ever need help dealing with whatever handicaps you have, you can always call me for help. I'll be sure to be there," Shirou said with determination and the conviction to protect.

Jeanne widened her eyes in surprise before smiling, "Oka—" Jeanne suddenly paused before a pink blushed instantly formed on her face.

"You … don't look too well," Shirou tentatively stated. She … didn't all the sudden contracted a cold, did she? Even with the strange oddities surrounding the Grail War between magi and Servants, Shirou doubted that even a unique Servant like Jeanne could contract an instantaneous cold within a split second.

"A-Ah! It's n-nothing!" Jeanne stuttered as she profusely waved her hands in front of her. "Laeticia is not very good at handling men, so it sometimes influences my actions."

"Oh … is that so," Shirou mumbled incoherently. Well, this is awkward. What else could he do in this kind of odd situation? This issue just made helping Jeanne up a notch in difficulty.

Jeanne hurriedly turned around as she prepared to walk up the remaining steps to the front of the church.

"Laeticia," Shirou called out, this time calling the host of the body.

Jeanne immediately turned around as she opened her mouth in surprise.

"I'm not sure can you hear me," Shirou began awkwardly, "but if you will allow me, I'll be sure to always be there when you both ever need help, no matter how big or small. Even in battle if necessary," Shirou gave a confident and unwavering smile. "And this stands for you too, Yuuki," Shirou grinned.

Jeanne softly smiled at Shirou's words before her face slowly turned serious. "I'm sorry, Shirou," Jeanne began, "but I cannot let you further involve yourself in the Grail Wars. I belong on a battlefield, but you a peaceful life."

Shirou thoughtfully gaze in the sky at Jeanne's words of concern. "No one belongs in the battlefield," Shirou refuted, "in the ideal world, everyone deserves a peaceful life than that of war. But in a reality where wars do exist, then is it not all of humanity's responsibility to help out in their own way by solving the conflict?" Shirou questioned.

"I may not be much of a big help in battle," Shirou continued, "but that doesn't mean I can't help. Because, I know helping others is never wrong."

Jeanne made a melancholy expression at Shirou's words as the vivid dream of swords from last night flashed through her head. By helping, did the red-headed magus meant he will go to that kind of extremes and sacrificial length to do so?

"I understand," Jeanne said as she turned around to face the church entrance. "However, I will make sure that eventuality will not happen. Battle is where I belong, and it is in my duty to protect the innocents and not get them involved in the War. And this stands for both you and Yuuki, Shirou," Jeanne ended with a firm conviction.

Shirou grinned. If he were to be in Jeanne's position, he might have done and said the same things she just said here earlier, especially if he didn't want others to be involved in his dangerous affairs to save. However, it was also through experience and this conversation that Shirou realized that helping does not only include mere battles but can also appear in many other forms.

Shirou unconsciously glanced down at his hands. In order for him to begin to truly be able to save others to the fullest of his abilities, he needed to become a Hero of Justice, doing anything he can with his hands to help others in need. And right now, Shirou saw that need most in this Great Holy Grail War.

With a gesture, Jeanne advanced forward as she pushed open the right side of the heavy wooden doors of the church while Shirou and Yuuki followed in after her.

Gazing at the ethereal lights shining in through the colorful glass sheets, Shirou couldn't help but gawk in awe at the serene beauty the church held that is completely unlike a certain Catholic church in Fuyuki City where it looked gloomy to any naked eyes.

Shifting his gaze to the stretching rows of neatly lined up wooden pews and the small tiled lane that ran in the middle of the room, the trio without hesitation stepped forward as they followed Jeanne's lead.

Suddenly, a strong and powerful stench of toxic perfume assaulted Shirou's nose as Shirou stumbled in place at the unexpected smell while he gagged inaudibly.

"Shirou?!"

"Shirou?" both Jeanne and Yuuki gave Shirou a concerned look at his abrupt odd behavior.

"Watch ou—" Shirou knew from Tohsaka's lectures after battling Rider's Blood Fort Andromeda that he had a keen sense of smell towards anything magical, though specifically more often towards any magical oddities. But despite Shirou's attempt of warning, Shirou was a second shy of his shout of caution when a purple glowing magic circle appeared and expanded from under Jeanne's foot when she turned around to see and make sure that Shirou was alright.

Jeanne widened her eyes in surprise by the trap as the magic circle's effect was immediate when powerful interconnecting chains flew out of the circle and began wrapping around Jeanne's figure.

Shirou's pupils shrank and his eyes widened at the surprise attack. Promptly reacting to the trap, Shirou instantly traced out Kanshou and Bakuya in his hands. Rocketing forward at the golden-haired Ruler, Shirou lashed out the dual Chinese blades instinctively as two chains shattered at the overwhelming force of the Noble Phantasm.

But despite Shirou's rapid recovery time and attacks, even he was no match to the chains' sheer speed in encompassing Jeanne's body. Shirou was about to turn around to destroy the other two chains when Jeanne all of the sudden narrowed her eyes before she manifested her armor as the magical chains all shattered at once at the overwhelming force.

"Thank you, Shirou," Jeanne thanked politely as Shirou smiled awkwardly at the thanks.

"Yeah …" Shirou then trailed off. "I'm glad to help but … couldn't you have done that – um, Servant power thing earlier?"

"I was caught off guard," Jeanne swiftly replied.

"Oh …" Shirou trailed off once more. He didn't know the concept of a Servant getting caught off guard actually existed! Was this another flaw behind Jeanne's unique summoning? "Is it Laeticia?" Shirou asked.

Jeanne shook her head at Shirou's words with a small smile. "Although I and Laeticia are two different people," Jeanne began explaining, "we are still in many ways one. Just as Laeticia influences my actions, the same can be said for me, I influence her actions. Even if Laeticia is partially responsible for my late reaction speed, I am still the one who possesses this body, therefore, it can be said that I am the one who is caught off guard," Jeanne finished.

Shirou nodded. "I get it … but I don't get it."

Yuuki subtly nodded in tacit agreement at Shirou's words. Two in one then one to two. Things can wind up becoming pretty confusing just after a couple sentences of explaining this odd thought or concept. The whole premise behind what Jeanne is speaking of is virtually saying, "I am you and you are me … but, we are in one body with two minds that connect to each other."

"I will explain in greater depth when we get back," Jeanne gave an amused grin at Shirou and Yuuki's display of confusion.

"What was that trap earlier?" Yuuki suddenly asked as they continued along the aisle.

"That trap was definitely created by a magus," Shirou noted the obvious observation for no ordinary human could craft a magic circle like that to Shirou's knowledge.

Jeanne shook her head. "I've never seen those runes before nor do I possess much knowledge of it, this magic circle could only be the creation of a Servant that dates back to the Age of Gods."

"Servant?" Shirou murmured in doubt. "That trap didn't look exceptionally powerful to me," Shirou expressed his thoughts.

Jeanne nodded her head in agreement. "That was a trap set up for magi only, not against Servants."

"Hmmm," Shirou hummed as he rubbed his chin. "Wonder why they did that."

Jeanne chose to not comment on Shirou's self-musing as she stepped forward and further down the aisle when suddenly her eyes opened impossibly wide while a vivid vision of a man shot through her mind. Cloaked in red and black with hair white as snow and skin tanned dark brown, Jeanne saw glimpses of him in the church building they were in before the visions swiftly came to an end when her sight returned to her, showing her the neatly lined up pews and the ornately decorated stage of the sanctuary.

"A …" Jeanne gasped from the intense sensation as she calmed her breathing, "… revelation just now," Jeanne trailed off before lifting up her downcast head as she gazed forward with a serious and determined expression that showed her purpose. "I must … meet that man," Jeanne uttered quietly to herself in thought.

"Uh …" Shirou broke the tranquil and almost tense silence. "What man are we talking about here?" Shirou asked, oblivious of what Jeanne had just "seen".

"The man of this church," Jeanne swiftly replied.

"What does he look like?"

"He is clothed in red and black attire. Also, he has a distinctive white hair along with tanned skin," Jeanne described.

Shirou struggled to not twitch his eyes at the detailed descriptions. That sounded _exactly_ like the Archer of the Fifth War who tried to kill him!

"Is he … that important?" Shirou tentatively asked.

Jeanne cocked her head sideways in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, do we really _really_ have to go see this man in your …" Shirou trailed off not knowing the term to use.

"Revelation," Jeanne filled in the missing blank.

"Right, revelation," Shirou repeated. "So, is seeing that man a necessary course of action for us?"

Jeanne shook her head in reply. "Not us but just I," Jeanne replied. "You and Yuuki will be staying under Serge's roof while I solve the oddities behind this Grail War."

Shirou gave a soft smile at Jeanne's straightforward concern. "I will be going," Shirou said adamantly. "I need to see this man for myself as well."

"Shirou?" Yuuki gave a questioning look at the red-headed magus.

"Do you know this man?" Jeanne asked, confused by why Shirou found it necessary to see the person who should be absolutely unrelated to him.

"Know him?" Shirou muttered under his breath. "White hair and tanned skin with red and black clothes, right?" Shirou reconfirmed to which Jeanne quietly nodded her head. "There should be only one person in the world that matches that description in an event like the Grail Wars, though …" Shirou trailed off.

"Shirou?" Jeanne voiced out her concern when she saw the pensive mood Shirou was in.

"Ah, it's nothing," Shirou smiled once he snapped out of his trance. "I hope you don't mind, but I need to see this person for myself and …" Shirou abruptly stopped as he reflected in his mind on how he should continue his sentence.

"And?" Jeanne asked, gesturing for Shirou to continue his midway explanation.

"And … if it's the person I think it is, then I'll give him a piece of my mind," Shirou ended with a firm and unwavering gaze that of a battle experienced warrior.

"You sound like you have a history with him," Jeanne noted with interest.

"A short but very deep one," Shirou cryptically answered. "Jeanne," Shirou suddenly addressed, "do you happen to know the man's name by any chance?"

Jeanne closed her eyes as she shook her head. "No, I unfortunately do not."

"Hmmm, well, let's just hope his name isn't 'Shirou'," Shirou offhandedly commented. If Shirou were to end up truly see his future self, Archer, then things could get really ugly very quick. But there is one thing that Shirou didn't understand from Jeanne's descriptive yet vague revelation. If Archer of the Fifth War was truly here … then _why_ is he here? How does the Great Holy Grail War here in Romania tie to the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki?

Shirou decided to store away his unanswered questions in his brain for another time. Maybe later when he is perhaps alone with either Jeanne or Fione will they be able to shed some light on the matter of the Holy Grail Wars for him. But seeing how Jeanne is the Ruler of this Grail War only, Shirou wasn't sure whether or not will she have any knowledge of the past or other Grail Wars around the world. And if Jeanne is truly unable to answer Shirou's question, Shirou is left with his last resort of asking Fione who resides in the looming Yggdmillennia Castle.

Yep, if Jeanne, his Saber, and Tohsaka were to hear his thoughts right now, Shirou could almost imagine their cries of dismay and eyes of disapproval while they shook their heads from side to side in dissatisfaction. In fact, the more Shirou thought about it, he had a premonition that it would be a lot worse than a simple disapproval. Tohsaka might chain him down to the floor until he "repents" of his mindset … Shirou shuddered inwardly as the image crossed his mind.

"Anyway, let's get going," Shirou announced seeing that there is nothing more to see around the small mountainside church of Trifas.

Jeanne hummed in agreement as she dissipated her armor, leaving behind her school uniform as Shirou barely resisted the urge to sigh at the sight. No matter how many times he sees it, he could never get used to seeing Jeanne in a traditional European school uniform, especially when she carries such a similar face to his Servant, Saber!

"Shirou," Yuuki's barely audible voice addressed Shirou as Yuuki tugged the hem of Shirou's shirt repeatedly, "are we going?" Yuuki asked as he gestured over to Jeanne who is already a few paces ahead. "You seem distracted," Yuuki noted monotonously.

"It's … complicated," Shirou finally sighed at the reminder of his previous thoughts. How is he going to explain to Yuuki about his inner nagging troubles?

"You can tell me everything if you want, Shirou, I am here to listen," a voice suddenly spoke beside him as Shirou's eyes widened in recognition at the feminine sound.

"J-Jeanne!" Shirou stuttered in bewilderment.

"Distractions can prove fatal if a battle occurs," Jeanne began. "If you are to come with me to find the man, I suggest you find ways to rid yourself of any distractions," Jeanne finished sagely.

"Haha," Shirou gave a dry laugh and an awkward, forced smile. "Easier said than done."

"What is distracting you, Shirou?" Jeanne continued to pursue her question.

Shirou felt a tugging sensation in his heart at wanting to tell Jeanne about her … choice of attire. Shirou inwardly lamented at his position, this was why he disliked the skill 'Charisma' of a Servant. They can compel even the most stubborn person into willing submission. A useful skill, but can get awfully annoying once it's used on you.

"It's …" Shirou hesitated while Jeanne stared intently into Shirou's eyes, "… that uniform," Shirou finally said in a voice just slightly above a whisper.

"M-My …" Jeanne face began to rapidly go red, probably mostly because of Laeticia's influence on her, "… uniform?"

Shirou reluctantly nodded. "I knew someone who looked a lot like you," Shirou began explaining, "and seeing you wearing the school uniform kind of reminded me of her and our time together … though, she will never wear a school uniform unless it's practical for battle," Shirou smiled.

Jeanne smiled when she saw Shirou's face brighten at the fond memory. But … battle?

"Which battle have you and her overcome?" Jeanne asked.

"Huh?" Shirou made a questioning look at Jeanne's question, thinking that she should know better as the Ruler of the war. "It's none other than the Holy Grail War. She's my Servant, Saber."

Jeanne's eyes widened at the impossibility and the implications Shirou's words held. A Holy Grail War?! Jeanne was quickly taken back in her mind to the time when she just met Shirou. During that time, she told the Masters and Servants of Black who are cornering Shirou that forcefully making Shirou involved in the Grail Wars will be breaking the guidelines of the war. However, Shirou replied with an odd statement that piqued her curiosity. _"Well, I wasn't expecting to get dragged into another one,"_ Shirou had spoken those words verbatim. And right now, Jeanne had officially confirmed what Shirou meant from those words at the time. He, no matter the absurdity his words carried, had been in a Grail War with a Saber Servant.

"We should get going before it gets too late," Shirou suddenly announced, snapping Jeanne out of her train of thoughts. "I still need to get some more groceries and find a part-time job. If you guys want, you can both first go back. I'll be back at Serge's house later once I finish my errands."

"There's still much daylight left," Yuuki pointed out emotionlessly.

Shirou nodded in agreement. "True, but Servants are most active during the night, and we can't risk being under their line of sight this early in the battle," Shirou said. "It will be better if they don't know us so we can help the unaware innocents out."

"I see," Yuuki stated.

"We will go with you," Jeanne answered in Yuuki's stead seeing his intention just by the way he looked at Shirou.

"Thank you," Shirou smiled and gave a light chuckle. "Well then, let's head out!" Shirou said as he marched out of the brightly lit church sanctuary as they headed for the great outdoors.

Shirou turned his head over at the afternoon sun. In just a couple of hours, the battle for the Holy Grail is going to resume for Masters and Servants. And for some reason, Shirou could feel trouble brewing in the city of Trifas.

Suddenly, Shirou senses assaulted him all at once as he barely managed to keep himself from collapsing instantly. The scent of death, loneliness, vengeance was all in the air in a jumbled mess, making Shirou's mind stagger a bit at the overwhelming feeling. Shirou whirled his head to the right at the source of smell to see absolutely nothing there.

Shirou frowned at the sight. He swore there was something there. Having an uneasy crease of worry on his forehead, Shirou narrowed his eyes as Jeanne and Yuuki continued walking forward unknowing of Shirou's inner turmoil.

Looking up to the sky, Shirou could only grimly say to himself one sentence. _"A big storm is coming …"_

* * *

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Hey guys, sorry for the one day late update. Things have been pretty hectic recently in real life so my writing had to wait a bit. So … for those that reviewed and are wondering what's taking the author so long to answer your question, it's because I haven't got the time to properly reply a** _ **single**_ **review due to this week's packed schedule. Anyway, hope you can understand! These next few days, I hope to properly reply all the reviews that have a question in it! Thank you for your patience!**

 **Also, everybody, thank you very much for expressing your opinions about the story plot, parings, characters, etc. I appreciate it and it has gave me a great idea on what you, the readers, are looking for in this story.**

* * *

 **Anyway, next update coming out on Saturday is …** _ **Blades of Fate**_ **!**


	5. Battle in the Night Part 1

_**Chapter 4 – Battle in the Night Part 1**_

"Shirou?" a voice called out with an accompanying light tug on the hem of Shirou's jacket.

Shirou snapped out of his train of thought as he glanced over at the person behind him whose height reached slightly above his waist. "Ah, sorry about that, Yuuki," Shirou light-heartedly chuckled, "it seems like I was dozing off in thought again."

A frown from both Yuuki and Jeanne who was a bit up front made Shirou realize that he had managed to unintentionally worry them once more by his odd antics.

"Shirou, is something wrong?" Jeanne asked as she approached Shirou closer.

Shirou's forehead creased for a split-second before smiling relaxingly, "It's nothing," Shirou answered, "but you guys should probably head back. In the meantime, I have an errand to run," Shirou stated.

Jeanne's eyes narrowed slightly before nodding, "Please be sure to come back before nightfall," Jeanne warned.

Shirou grinned, "No problem."

Walking toward the way they just came down from, Shirou hiked up the uneven hill once more before whirling to the right when a sudden and staggering strong scent assaulted Shirou's nostrils. The identical scent that first made itself apparent less than an hour ago when he just walked out of the church on the hill.

"Who's there!" Shirou shouted as his gaze shot over at the source of the magically induced smell. The smell which reeked of sheer loneliness, rejection, death, and bloodthirsty vengeance all mixed together in the air to produce a sickening and depressing atmosphere. For a moment, Shirou was reminded of the entity now within his head called Angra Mainyu – All the Sins of the World. However, while the concentrated scent does speak of unspeakable danger, it still nevertheless pales in comparison to the horror Angra Mainyu possessed which all now resides in his body much to Shirou's discomfort.

No answer met his question until the scent, just like it came, disappeared without a trace after a couple seconds of still silence.

A Servant, Shirou was more than positive that that power which somewhat reminded him of the Blood Fort Andromeda originated from that of a being who possesses a strength that rivals that of a Servant. Needless to say, given the eccentric behavior the Servant exhibited in toying with Shirou, the Servant is bound to be an Assassin Class Servant, a Servant Shirou knew that he would have trouble fighting against given their skill in concealment.

Not having a single clue where the Servant could have gone, Shirou turned around and left the unpopulated area and back towards Serge's house. If anything, Shirou knew he would more likely than not have another encounter with the mysterious Servant when nightfall approaches. However, judging just from the way the Servant acted, Shirou knew that he would have trouble spotting, let alone defeating, a Servant who possesses such caution. In order to protect the innocent civilians from this potentially dangerous Servant, Shirou would need to enlist Jeanne's aid if at all possible.

Shirou's forehead creased at the troubling thought. If he involves Jeanne, not only would it affect Laeticia, but more importantly, it would also indirectly involve Yuuki into the Great Holy Grail War once more unnecessarily. And given Yuuki's still developing personality, Shirou highly doubt the boy would step back and let him and Jeanne do all the fighting. Yuuki would want to be an active participant of saving others, especially saving the homunculus who are technically considered as his family.

Shirou let out a sigh at the thought. He was going to be doing a whole lot of explaining later once he gets back "home", something which he without a doubt did not look forward to.

* * *

"I'm back," Shirou called out in Japanese once he entered Serge's house which was at the outskirts of the city. Not surprisingly, Serge, who walked out of the kitchen, understood Shirou in his own native tongue as the old man smiled calmly at the red-headed man's appearance.

Lightly tapping his shoes at the entrance way to make sure none of the dirt that accumulated under his shoes would dirty the floor, Shirou then proceeded by taking off his footwear before quietly walking into the dining room. Glancing over at the three people who were seated by the dining table while enjoying their dinner, Shirou raised his eyebrows in surprise at the unexpected sight.

"Sorry," Serge chuckled light-heartedly, "we started ahead of you. I'll grab you a plate as well."

"No, it's alright, I can grab it myself," Shirou offered. "More importantly, I didn't know you could cook this well," Shirou complimented upon seeing the simple yet delicious looking native cuisines on the table.

Serge grinned at Shirou's comment. "I can still only do half of what my wife is able to do," Serge claimed proudly before gesturing for Shirou to grab his own food and come sit with them.

Following the elderly man's instructions, Shirou walked over to the pan-filled food to see neatly stacked cabbage rolls as well as an aromatic broth which Shirou assumed had lamb inside it.

Happily pouring the contents onto his designated bowl, Shirou set the food on the table before sitting down beside Jeanne and in front of Serge.

Clapping his hands together while briefly closing his eyes, Shirou uttered quietly, "Itadakimasu," before smiling as he scooped a handful of the mouth-watering broth past his waiting lips.

Widening his eyes at the taste, Shirou gazed into the delicacy once more in shock when his taste buds fully registered both the saltiness and the tint of sourness in the creamy broth. Admittingly, this was one of the most unique and best broth Shirou has ever eaten outside of Japanese food.

"Remind me," Shirou said once he swallowed his first spoonful, "to ask you for this recipe," Shirou finished with a satisfied grin as he proceeds to continue to finish his dinner.

Serge grinned at Shirou's enthusiastic yet sincere statement. "Sure, boy, I will be glad to teach you the commoner's traditional food here in my country."

Long done with his small portion of food, Yuuki looked up to gaze onto Shirou's form. "Where did you go?" Yuuki asked, both out of curiosity and for the sake of initiating a conversation, something which Jeanne told him was crucial for social interaction which was apparently essential for a normal person.

Shirou stopped between bites as he contemplated on how to answer Yuuki's question that would be ambiguous enough to not let Serge know the impending danger in the city as well as inform Jeanne of the potentially dire predicament the city was in.

"Nothing noteworthy," Shirou dismissed, "though something felt off around the city … kind of like the church," Shirou added at the end.

Yuuki slowly nodded in understanding while Jeanne gave a quick and serious glance in Shirou's direction, his statement having successfully caught her full attention.

"It's normal," Serge reassured, "Romania is very different than Japan. It must take time for you to get used to the oddities around here."

Shirou softly smiled, "True, I trust I would get used to everything in about two weeks."

"Haha," Serge chuckled amusingly, "young people can sure adapt quickly. It would take me years if I were to move to another country."

Shirou laughed awkwardly at the comment as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "Ah … it's nothing like that."

The remainder of dinner continued with little interaction among everybody as all the people busied themselves with their own food and responsibility while enjoying the serene countryside quietness.

"Shirou," Jeanne suddenly addressed while assisting Shirou in taking away all the silverware and plates to the kitchen sink, "could we talk after we're done?"

Shirou, having a fairly good idea what Jeanne wanted to discuss, nodded in agreement, "Sure."

"We can talk in my room later then."

Washing and drying off all the dishes with little difficulty despite some of the inconvenience this place had compared to the standard modern home in Japan, both Shirou and Jeanne were able to clean all the used dishes to their satisfaction. Stacking up everything in a neat pile before placing the eating utensils back in the cabinet, Shirou followed after Jeanne wordlessly to her room. Upon entering the simple yet neatly organized bedroom, Shirou found subtle differences between Jeanne's room and his own aside from the small decorations that hung modestly on the wall here.

"Shirou," Jeanne began without hesitation as she used her hand and softly patted on the bed, gesturing for Shirou to sit comfortably beside her.

Sparing the effort to question Jeanne's "foreign" antics, Shirou followed her suggestion and sat down right beside her.

"You said you wanted to discuss something?" Shirou started off the conversation with a question.

Jeanne subtly nodded, "If I may ask, what did you find during your 'errand'?"

"Nothing much," Shirou answered with a tinge of disappointment. "However, I was able to sense intense magical energy when we walked out of the church earlier today."

"Intense?" Jeanne questioned in an alarmed and confused manner. "I did not feel anything," Jeanne finished with a creasing frown.

"As my mentor would explain, it's because I'm hypersensitive to any abnormal magics or unnatural oddities. Apparently, I can sense all this through unique scents to put it simply," Shirou gave a quick and watered-down explanation.

Jeanne nodded in understanding, not bothering to question Shirou further of his unique ability. "That is how you were able to act faster than I did back in the church," Jeanne concluded.

"Right," Shirou reconfirmed. "Though I was not able to sense a powerful enough magical signature to identify the trap as coming from a Servant. So, this ability still has its shortcomings."

"I see. In that case, what were you able to discover, Shirou?" Jeanne asked while the setting sun's rays shone majestically into Jeanne's room as it radiated past Jeanne's golden braids of hair beautifully.

Shirou resisted the urge to blink twice at the stunning sight and the sheer resemblance this Ruler Class Servant had to his Saber Servant back home.

"I was not able to find the Servant," Shirou began calmly, "however, judging by scent alone, I can tell this Servant can potentially be very threatening for the city, especially if the Servant's Master is an indiscriminate murderer. Furthermore, the Servant is bound to be an Assassin Class Servant."

"Why do you say so?" Jeanne questioned.

"From my limited experience of the Grail War, I do know that Assassins tend to be the only Servants who carry no pride and honor in the sense other Servants would. Instead, they tend to favor lurking in the shadows and killing their enemies secretly."

Jeanne shook her head in disagreement. "Shirou, what you refer to as a warrior's honor and pride can only be properly referenced between a Servant and another Servant, not another human like you. No honorable Servant would purposely mingle with a human who has very little magical energy for no reason. Therefore, do not confuse the 'Assassin's' lack of confrontation with you today as 'cowardice'."

Thinking back to the Grail War in Japan, Shirou knew what Jeanne was saying is correct. Ignoring the enforced rule of no Servant battles in the morning due to drawing unwanted attention from the common people, heroes of the past summoned into the present always do their best to avoid innocent causalities. For Shirou, it was only when he witnessed the fight between Lancer and Archer back at his own high school did he inadvertently gave himself a death sentence. However, even in face of death, Lancer nevertheless gave a hint of sympathy towards his dying form.

"While that may be true," Shirou continued, "the Assassin still didn't come out when I called out 'Whose there!'" Shirou stated with a serious demeanor.

Jeanne blinked once, then blinked twice before having a creasing frown and troubled look on her face. For some special reason, Shirou felt like Jeanne was not the only acting force for the obvious expression of disapproval directed at him.

"Do you have any idea what were you thinking?" Jeanne lightly scolded in an exasperated manner.

"I have some idea," Shirou replied when he was reminded of the countless times both Tohsaka and Saber have scolded him because of his necessary yet oftentimes reckless attitude in a battle.

Jeanne gave a soft sigh, "As long as you understand, however," Jeanne continued, "please do not repeat your actions. No normal human could stand against a Servant," Jeanne warned with a hidden worried expression.

Shirou nodded in understanding. Those were Saber's words less than a week ago … verbatim. And he has long understood the implications the words carry. In other words, avoid Servant battles at all cost. However, despite possessing this understanding, Shirou nevertheless knew that even having this knowledge would not stop him from fighting Servants in pursuit of saving the innocent, regardless of the impossibility of the task.

"Even so, if there are people that need me, I would do anything to save them," Shirou calmly replied.

Jeanne glanced at Shirou as if measuring his statement. Knowing that the famous saint named Jeanne d'Arc would understand the sentiment of saving others better than most, Shirou assumed at the very least, she of all people would know that this path of righteousness is not wrong.

"Not many people as young as you have the same mature outlook which you possess," Jeanne spoke after a brief moment of silence. "However, as I said today, it is my duty in the war to protect the innocents. And that includes you, Shirou."

Not bothering to argue against Jeanne's logical rebuttal, Shirou asked the critical question that was meant to be addressed since the beginning of the conversation. "Are you planning to go out and find Assassin tonight?" Shirou asked.

Jeanne nodded. "If what you say is true, then Assassin and his Master may be extremely dangerous to Trifas City."

"Would you engage in battle?" Shirou asked, partially worried about her wellbeing despite the absurdity behind it seeing how the Ruler Class Servant has countless command seals to aid herself in battle.

"Only if they are breaking the rules to the Grail War," Jeanne stated.

The rules of the war, Shirou thought grimly. If he recalled correctly, the Church was the organization that orchestrated the rules to this sick game. However, seeing how Jeanne and instead of the Church is the absolute authority in this Great Holy Grail War, Shirou is beginning to think that the Grail itself also played a crucial role in the creation of these "game" rules. But, even with limited knowledge of the workings of the Grail War, Shirou knew that the rules were not flawless.

Although rules are meant to be obeyed upon, there are still times where rules should be broken. Likewise, even if there are no dictated rules, it does not necessarily mean that one is allowed to commit the unspoken deed.

"Just promise me you won't give up your morality for the sake of following the Grail's command," Shirou spoke his thoughts aloud in concern.

Jeanne softly smiled at Shirou's words. "There is a higher authority than the Grail in whom I serve," Jeanne spoke enigmatically to Shirou. "I will be sure to keep your advice in heart."

"In that case," Shirou stood up from the bed as he involuntarily patted the front of his pants in habit, "should we get going?" Shirou asked seeing how the sun has almost completely disappeared below the horizon.

"Not you but just I," Jeanne stated.

"Then how are you planning to find Assassin?" Shirou pointed out.

Jeanne did not give Shirou an answer right away while somehow keeping her calm composure.

"I won't do anything reckless," Shirou promised, "however, if you want to find Assassin efficiently, then you would need my help."

Jeanne contemplated for a few more seconds before giving a reluctant look. "Very well, Shirou. However, we could both agree that Yuuki would not be coming."

"Of course," Shirou grinned, "though he might dislike being left out intentionally like this," Shirou chuckled at the end.

Jeanne couldn't help but smile at Shirou's comment despite the seriousness of the topic.

Almost as if on cue, a child's head with brown ruffled hair peeked past the open doorway to Jeanne's room, innocently gazing at the people who were already present.

"Yuuki?" Shirou uttered in confirmation, as if not surprised by the boy's presence. For a split moment, Shirou was reminded of Illya back in Fuyuki upon the boy's "secretive" behavior.

"You guys are going?" Yuuki asked monotonously.

Avoiding the impossible attempt to decipher the homunculus boy's current emotions, Shirou answered truthfully, "Yeah, about right now."

Yuuki slowly nodded in deep thought.

Hearing no response from the silent child, Shirou made his way to the exit of the room quietly before looking back at Jeanne. "We should probably get going."

Jeanne hummed in agreement as she also too stood up from the bed.

"We'll be right back, Yuuki," Jeanne softly smiled as she kneeled down in front of Yuuki to get at eye level distance with him.

Shirou grinned at the heart-warming conversation. "We're just finding someone. We should be back here before dawn," Shirou added for good measures.

Blinking in silent acknowledgment, Yuuki opened his mouth, "Stay safe."

Raising his eyebrows slightly in surprise at the send-off farewell, Shirou unconsciously grinned wider to see Yuuki's sincere attempt in becoming more socially adapt to society is beginning to pay off. Who knows, this child may be able to live normally like Illyasviel back in Japan is … without the mad killing frenzy she had initially at the beginning of the Grail War of course.

Saying a quick farewell to Yuuki and later Serge, Shirou and Jeanne walked out of the serene countryside house and headed towards the incoming warzone in Trifas City.

* * *

Rikudou Reika opened the blood red curtains in the dimly lit room as she gazed outside at the still night of Trifas City with a calm and unreadable expression. Swiftly looking back behind her, Reika's violet eyes glanced calmly at the Servant who is only but a young girl child.

"It's almost time to leave this place," Reika began as she softly smiled at the Servant girl.

The light purple haired girl with scars running over her entire body leaned sideways in question at her "mother's" statement, "But it seems like more magi have come to this city."

"Oh, really?" Reika replied as if unconcern of the impending danger. "Then, do you want to have your last meal here in Shigoisoara?" Reika asked kindly. Needless to say, the meal the prostitute referred to is none other than a magi's heart to further empower the little girl's magical energy and ultimately her existence.

Smiling eagerly, the girl hummed in excitement, "Yes, I'll do that!"

Continuing, the girl then leaned forward with an innocent look of worry on her face, "But mom, today you can't come with me this time. Because there are Servants right now," the girl warned.

"Okay," Reika spoke soothingly like any loving mother with a young daughter would. "I'll wait for you then."

Upon her mother's consent, the girl Servant hummed and nodded at the mutual agreement before opening the window to their second-floor lodging. Leaping out of the window sill as her white night gown swayed hypnotically in the air, the Servant's attire changed when a wave of magical energy encompassed her to reveal a contrasting black uniform with little to no armor that is fitting for a trained assassin.

Gazing past the disappearing figure in the foggy night, Reika smiled peacefully as she sees her "daughter" away. "Come back tonight, Jackie," Reika whispers fondly.

Like a death reaper in the night, Jack the Ripper prepared to reign terror in the peaceful night of Trifas City without restraint.

* * *

"That's the fourth one," Shirou said dryly as he gazed at the guard randomly patrolling Trifas City walking off behind them. Shifting his eyes back to Jeanne's figure beside him, Shirou resisted an urge to sigh at the choice of her attire tonight – namely, a complete set of armor as well as a weaponized flagpole. In short, Jeanne was currently fully gowned in her Servant battle form.

"Do you really have to be like this right now?" Shirou asked with a hint of desperation.

"You said you'd sense a hostile Servant nearby," Jeanne stated, repeating what Shirou had informed her several minutes ago.

"Yeah … but is all that armor right now necessary?" Shirou resisted an urge to groan in complaint.

When Jeanne materialized both her armor and weapon, it was less than five minutes before both of them unexpectedly bumped into a patrolling guard. Shirou inwardly cursed at his carelessness in getting caught off guard so quickly when he was too immersed in finding the unknown lurking presence here in the city. However, what made everything worse was the fact that neither of them possessed hypnotism magecraft to erase the guard's memory or simply confuse the man.

In the end, Shirou was forced to endure a long and complicated conversation on how Jeanne's attire was not a symbol of terrorism but simply a "cosplay", a concept the people of Trifas City were clearly unfamiliar with. And thanks to such out of the norm attire, Shirou was ultimately forced to repeat the same conversation four exact times. Despite all the troubles in explaining to others about Jeanne's battle-ready figure, Shirou acknowledged that everything could have been much more difficult if not for Jeanne's high-rank Charisma there to aid him.

"Yes," Jeanne answered while Shirou was quietly thinking back at his continuing misfortune, "as I do not know where Assassin is located, it is best to be ready for battle at all times."

"Point taken," Shirou softly smiled at Jeanne's careful nature, "however, it would have been nice if we could avoid all those encounters with the guards around here."

Jeanne nodded in agreement as her armor clanked quietly every time she moved.

Suddenly, another intensive wave of a magical scent of "evil" assaulted Shirou's nose once again, this time much stronger than the all the other ones he had earlier.

"There," Shirou said quietly though his voice was laced with urgency when he whirled his head over to a dark alleyway to their right.

Nodding seriously, Jeanne followed after Shirou's instruction as she surveyed her surrounding in a cautious manner.

Walking only a few steps forward, an explosive sound followed with the quaking of the earth suddenly met Shirou and Jeanne's ears. Shirou unconsciously backpedaled in surprise at the noise in the previously serene city, but however was able to quickly regain his composure and analyze their current predicament in a split-second. Another explosive sound of destruction blasted loudly near their vicinity as debris of dust could be seen drifting rapidly into the sky. Needless to say, both Shirou and Jeanne nodded to each other as they immediately raced forward at the source of battle.

Quickly skidding to the right as the earth shook more noticeably once again, Shirou was met with an unusual scene of an armored Servant with a broadsword which Shirou was able to identify as Clarent smashing through massively built golems as if it were nothing. However, despite the red Saber's powerful blows being able to knock down the rock sturdy dolls, even the golems were built with the tenacity to resist a significant degree of the Servant's power.

Spitting out a sound of frustration, Shirou could dimly hear the unknown Servant silently cursing at her predicament. Turning to look over at Jeanne who was beside him, Shirou was about to ask a question before Jeanne beat him by giving him the answer first.

"I know what you're about to ask, Shirou," Jeanne calmly began, "however, I am not allowed to assist any Servants unless there is a breach in the rules of the Holy Grail."

Beginning to better grasp what role Jeanne has and how she works under it, Shirou was about to charge straight in battle to assist the defending Servant when massive red crackling lightning shot out from the Servant's body in the form of pure mana. Shocked by the unexpected development, Shirou halted his advance when the red Servant roared aloud before shooting towards the golem to her right like a charging comet.

Plunging her sword through the magical core of the golem with minimal resistance, the Servant then shot forward without hesitation at the next golem, proceeding to successfully cleaving its head off at record speed. Following after, the red Saber then turned around just in time to dodge the third golem's impacting blow before using the angular momentum she possessed to throw her broadsword like a javelin, shattering the golem into countless pieces upon the sound-breaking impact.

Just like that, within less than five seconds, the unknown Servant was somehow able to smash her way through the entire obstacle of formidable opponents with little injury.

"She's … a berserker," Shirou slowly uttered once he regained his bearings after the shocking and mind-blowing sight. What is this Servant?! And what kind of Saber Servant throws their sword like a spear at unfathomable speeds! No Saber Servant would be this reckless expect for a Berserker Class Servant. And really … was throwing a sword necessary?

"That was overkill," a man approached Saber with unconcern as he mildly sighs while lighting his cigarette with the flickering flame in hand.

"More importantly," the Servant seemingly growled out as she pulled her broadsword out off the shattered golem before pointing straight at Shirou and Jeanne, "isn't that Ruler?" the Servant said with a dangerous yet carefree tone.

"Hmmm?" the man glanced behind in interest at Saber's words.

Both parties meet each other's eyes as Shirou smiled awkwardly at the strained atmosphere. While the gazes directed at him were by no means hostile, it still wasn't exactly friendly either.

"Servant Ruler," the man beside Saber began as he casually flicked his smoking cigarette away, "to what pleasure do I have seeing you?"

Jeanne took a nonaggressive step forward as Shirou shifted his eyes from the man whom he assumed is a Master of the war given his knowledge of Jeanne being Ruler to a more interesting target.

Staring not specifically at the Saber Servant clad in heavy impenetrable armor with two odd "horns" jetting out of her helmet, Shirou gazed intently into the heavy blade she carried in hand.

Clarent, one of the many Noble Phantasms in King Author's arsenal as stated in many well-renown medieval legends, is a weapon that is commonly debated to be the Sword in the Stone as argued by modern historians. However, Shirou's gaze deepened into the blade to see a different story. Clarent, a blade solely for the usage of knighting ceremonies and the likes is a sword that is meant to be a symbol of peace and not of war. Which is completely unlike the other two famed weapons King Author is most known to carry, Excalibur and Caliburn, both which symbolizes victory and glory in a battlefield.

But, despite Clarent's widespread symbolism of peace, it was soon led to being named as the Sword of Cowardice due to the infamous traitor Mordred stealing the blade to ultimately kill the chosen king in the Battle of Camlann.

Blinking twice, Shirou quickly snapped out his momentary daze as he looked down at his own two hands in mild surprise. Yes, he knew he was able to use Structural Analysis on weapons to read a weapon's history, after all, that was how he was able to better trace his favored weapons, Kanshou and Bakuya. However, he was never able to do it this extensively before without significantly weakening his stamina and depleting his mana in the meantime. Regardless of the reason behind this unforeseen improvement of being able to handle such quantity of magical stress, Shirou knew he was going to need to study what's happening to his body once everything is done tonight. And whether he liked it or not, Shirou had a hunch that the being in his mind may be the contributing issue to this "positive" problem.

Either way, the sheer indication that the Servant before him possessed the weapon Clarent could only mean one of two things, that this person is either the legendary King Arthur – the "Once and Future King" – or the Servant is Mordred, also known as the Knight of Treachery. But considering the fighting style of the Saber Class Servant is something no stereotypical knight would do made Shirou harbor doubts of his supposedly keen observation.

"Master of Red," Jeanne suddenly addressed the man's question that was directed at her, "are any Servants of Red currently on your expedition right now? Specifically an Assassin Class Servant," Jeanne asked with flawless charisma fitting for a saint that led France into numerous battles centuries ago.

The middle-aged man frowned in thought at Jeanne's seemingly odd question.

"If they're not at the church, then I do not know where Assassin or the priest with her are now," the man answered nonchalantly.

The Master's interesting answer piqued Jeanne's curiosity. "A priest you said, tell me more about him."

The man looked at Jeanne with suspicion before nodding, "He's the 'Overseer' of the Great Holy Grail War sent by the Church for the Red Faction, 'Shirou' I believe was his name. May I ask why he has interested you?" the Master ended with a glint of both interest and caution in his eyes.

Shirou felt his heart immediately stop upon hearing the name "Shirou" being referred to as the priest of the church. If his memory serves correctly, this man of the church named "Shirou" should be none other than the person Jeanne specifically referenced to when she received her revelation. A man who apparently has white hair and is gowned in a unique blend of red and black clothing. All of these which point inevitably to one sardonic man that Shirou would rather never meet again – Archer, his future counterpart.

"Oi, Master," Saber called out her Master as she pointed her sword over at Shirou's form, "aren't you more curious what's a third-rate magus doing here?"

"Hmmm," the man hummed silently to himself, "you're even able to tell that much, huh?"

"Blame it on my mother's upbringing," Saber retorted with dissatisfaction.

Seeing that he has now officially joined into the conversation, Shirou walked up over to the Master Servant dual and extended a hand out as he introduced himself, "My name is Shirou, Emiya Shirou," Shirou greeted with a smile while maintaining on careful guard with the both of them, especially the unidentified Servant.

"Huh? What kind of name is that?" Saber questioned sarcastically while in self-musing.

However, her Master's response was completely opposite when a big frown rapidly made its way up his face. "Emiya, you said," the man reconfirmed.

Although initially confused by the man's question, Shirou nevertheless answered clearly, "Yeah, Emiya Shirou."

There was a temporary lapse of silence before the Master spoke up once again, "Do you happen to know a man by the name Emiya Kiritsugu?"

Shirou widened his eyes at the familiar name. He never thought to meet up with someone who knew his old man, especially in the middle of a fairly unpopulated city like Trifas City. But then again, in an event like the Holy Grail War, his old man may have inevitably garnered some attention from different skilled magi.

"You know him then," the man grunted in thought upon seeing Shirou's surprised reaction. "Are you related to him?"

Shirou slowly nodded, "Yes, I'm his son," Shirou answered, seeing absolutely no harm in answering the man's question, especially considering how his old man has been dead for nearly a decade. If anything, this rare opportunity may prove to assist Shirou in getting to know his father better in the world of magi.

"Wait, son, you said?!" the Master for once lost his composure as his mouth gaped wide open.

"Yes," Shirou slowly replied.

"The son of the Magus Killer," the man shook his head in disbelief. "Who would have ever thought that fearless magus of all people would wind up having a son."

"Things happen, I guess," Shirou chuckled awkwardly, partially uncomfortable with the Master's sudden reaction at the news of his old man's relationship to him.

"Fast too," the Master grunted. "Who knew anyone could change from a cold-blooded magus killer to becoming a father in a mere two years."

Wait, Shirou thought in his mind as his brain did an automatic reboot, two years? That can't sound right. His father was already long dead. In fact, Shirou was right beside his old man during his passing due to his constant degenerating and poor health.

"Two years you said?" Shirou questioned, resisting an urge to croak out his words.

"Huh? Yeah, two years since I last met him for a mission sent by the Clocktower," the man replied before lighting up another cigarette that was placed inside the inner pocket of his coat carefully.

That can't be true, Shirou repeated those words over and over again in his mind. The man before him had blatantly said that his old man was alive. But … how was all this possible? Something was wrong. Nothing made sense anymore. Shirou could accept a couple weird phenomenon that has been happening to him recently ranging from his sudden relocation to his drastic jump in battle and linguistic abilities. However, a deceased man resurrected to life for no explainable reason is something Shirou can't simply put off as something remotely possible. Even Shirou knew with his limited knowledge that the skills required to resurrect someone would require magic on or near the level of True Magic.

Shirou wasn't graced with a more in-depth proper explanation when the alleyway began to rapidly fog up when a wave of "cloud" swept across the city. Shirou softly inhaled at the unexpected environmental change when he immediately sharply exhale as he gagged at the putrid and burning sensation in his throat and lungs.

"Don't breathe it," the man immediately croaked out as he choked up a series of coughs. "It's poison!"

Being assaulted with sudden in pain and dizziness, Shirou knelt down to the ground before Jeanne rushed in and help lift Shirou up and back to safety.

"Hang in there, Shirou!" Jeanne commanded as she began jogging over to the nearest clearing while making sure Shirou is able to keep up with her in his weakened state.

Swerving past several traditional buildings, both parties successfully made it out of the fog's vicinity and to a wide clearing as Shirou let out a muffled groan when he felt another wave of dizziness assaulting his head. If this continued to keep up, Shirou swore that he was going to lose the dinner he just had less than an hour ago. A terrible waste in his opinion, something which Shirou would rather avoid.

Looking up from the ground, Shirou was met with a new sight of a massive courtyard in the middle of the city. Shifting his gaze to the right, Shirou saw both Saber and the gagging Master beside the Servant together nearby. Glancing cautiously from right to left, both Saber and Jeanne surveyed their entire surroundings for possible enemy attacks.

Shirou's knees suddenly buckled once more when an intensive wave of potent magical energy assaulted all his senses, further worsening his dazed state as he began to suffer a painful migraine.

"Shirou!" Jeanne cried out in alarm.

"I'm fine," Shirou panted heavily once the wave of nausea has passed. "The Servant is here," Shirou hinted vaguely.

Jeanne didn't need to question Shirou further when she understood the true meaning behind his words. The Assassin Servant they had been unofficially searching for is now in the midst of the city.

The fog, as if controlled by multi-directional wind, covered the entire courtyard once more, obscuring everyone's vision but without having any poisonous properties.

A tense silence followed before a sudden moonlit glint to his right caught Shirou's attention at the last second when a flying blade shot forth deadly at Shirou's exposed jugular vein. Jeanne quickly reacted upon the surprise attack by swinging her weaponized flagpole and deflected the bladed projectile. Shirou involuntarily gulped at the near-death incident. While he has faired much worse in any of the enemy Servant encounters he had in the past, this was the first time he has ever fought an Assassin Class Servant. And now seeing one firsthand in battle, Shirou began to quickly realize the sheer deadliness these Servants are for any magi Master. Everything could simply end in a split of a second if one is unaware of the Assassin's presence.

Lifting his exhausted body up in order to not impede Jeanne's already limited movement, Shirou surveyed his surrounding to see a little girl no older than her elementary years launching herself onto the back of Saber's Master. Saber, seeing the move a split-second before the impact, immediately kicked her Master's shin, forcing the man to fall to his knees as the little girl's blade cut harmlessly through the air. Instantly launching a counterattack, Saber rushed over to the Assassin as she parried away countless ruthless blows from the seemingly weak Servant.

"Sorry to kill the fun," Saber began sarcastically as she held up her weapon in an offensive stance, "but that's my Master."

"You cut me," the little girl spoke aloud as she lifted up her arm and inspected her minor wound in mild sadness.

Shirou couldn't believe what he was witnessing. All along, this source of oppressive evil energy was an Assassin who is no older than her teens?! What was all this madness that is unfolding before his sight?

Looking back at Saber with an expressionless face, Assassin spoke softly, "What an awful thing to do."

"Who's the awful one here!" Saber spat out as she pointed her sword at the enemy Servant. "I don't want to hear that coming from someone eating souls like you!"

Shirou's heart lurched at the declaration. Eating … souls? One of the first lessons Tohsaka has instructed to Shirou was that Servants are inherently summoned magical heroes, and thus do not have a physical body, hence their ability to transform into their spiritual form. Because of this property, one method a Servant could use to replenish his magical energy is through the consumption of human souls, a ruthless act that Shirou once saw his old friend Shinji trying to attempt with his Servant Rider but to no avail.

However, to see such a little girl engaged in such a foul and brutal act that is nigh equivalent to cannibalism … how could this be possible? Despite knowing the likelihood behind the validity of Saber's statement, Shirou couldn't help but harbor more sorrow for the child in front of him instead of hate.

"Is that a bad thing?" the little girl asked as she tilted her head in confusion before smiling sadistically when she charged forward while throwing a barrage of knives at Saber.

Lifting up her sword, Saber deflected all the consecutive attacks effortlessly while Assassin made a strategic retreat into the thick fog.

Lowering her blade, Saber didn't bother glancing at her Master when she said, "Wait here, Master," before following after the Assassin.

"I'll leave her to you," the Master of Red replied while he dug into his pocket for a severed yet preserved hand that resembled that of an ape's. Placing it down onto the stone ground, the brown-haired man then chanted a simple command, "Bounded Field to keep people away. Deploy!"

As if having a life of its own, the hand lifted itself up as it walked on its finger while drawing a magical line that acted as the boundary of the Bounded Field.

Shirou wanted to comment on the disgusting manifested creature in front of him but decided to save that for a later time in favor of more pressing issues.

Shirou was about to call out Jeanne for help but immediately paused before he spoke out. Jeanne, although a Servant, was not an active participant in the war, and thus is not allowed to interfere in any battles between Servants as long as they aren't breaking the rules.

However … didn't Saber just say that Assassin was consuming human souls to further empower herself? That should be a breach in the rules for the Holy Grail War, right?

"Jeanne, can you go help Saber?" Shirou asked urgently.

Jeanne shook her head calmly in reply. "I do not have any tangible evidence to prove that Assassin has been consuming souls just like Saber has said. Let alone innocent souls that are not involved in the Grail Wars. Because of this, I am unable to force Assassin out of the Holy Grail War."

Shirou gritted his teeth at the disappointing and frustrating news. At this rate, something bad is bound to happen. And more likely than not, Assassin is going to be slaughtered by the red Saber Servant. Although Assassin was clearly evil, Shirou could not bear the sight of a little girl getting killed. After all, a true Hero of Justice has the duty to not merely save the majority but to instead save all.

"In that case," Shirou stood up to his full height as he stumbled momentarily with his balance. "I'll go." In all honesty, though, considering the amount of poison he had inhaled earlier, he was positively surprised that he was able to even recover so rapidly as Shirou continued to make his way forward.

"Shirou!" Jeanne protested as she reached out for Shirou's hands.

Shirou involuntarily flinched at the contact, rarely had he ever found himself in a position where a girl would carelessly hold his hand like that. But then again, Jeanne was from the fifteenth century, perhaps there was a gap in each of their cultural understanding. However, didn't Jeanne say Laeticia didn't deal well with men earlier today? Shirou shook the thoughts out of his mind, now was not the time to ponder about such things. There were far more pressing issues before him.

Shirou looked back at Jeanne's stern gaze as he softly smiled, "It's ok—"

Shirou was swiftly interrupted when a loud roar reverberated across the battlefield.

"Crimson Lightning!"

A cacophony of red energy blazed through the courtyard as the fog instantly dissipated at the sheer amount of mana displayed in the midst.

Shirou's jaws gaped at the stunning display of power the Saber Servant displayed. What kind of crazy amount of mana did she just shot out?!

Crimson lightning danced across the courtyard before slowly dying away as Saber pointed her sword threateningly at Assassin.

"It's over Assassin," Saber grinned menacingly, "If you want to scream now, do it to your heart's content. Because once I behead you, you won't be able to do so!"

Shirou had to blink twice when he finally noticed that Saber was no longer wearing her odd looking yet ornate helmet. Saber was a she?! How was that even possible? Was he not able to narrow his findings to the Servant being either the legendary King Arthur or the traitorous knight Mordred. But how is it, beyond his wildest imagination, did the Servant end up being a blonde girl.

Rubbing his eyes for good measures, Shirou gazed deeply into Saber to find his mind in a state of shock. That can't be right. Is that … Saber? Shirou wondered to himself upon seeing the uncanny resemblance between his own Servant back in Fuyuki to that of the Servant before him. However, Shirou quickly put a pause on that thought. Resemblance can only go as far as mere resemblance. They weren't identical, and thus were not the same person.

Forgetting all the countless questions he had piled up during his short visit in Trifas City, Shirou was ready to contribute in the battle to avoid any bloodshed between the two parties. Yes, his idea was sickeningly naïve as a certain Archer would comment, but right now, this was what Shirou believed to be right.

Assassin, in the form of a small little girl, laughed menacingly at Saber's previous comment. "We don't wanna," Assassin said as a scowl made its way up her face. "We're still hungry!" Assassin screamed out as she unsheathed her butcher blades and charged right at Saber recklessly.

Saber followed suit as she blasted off the stone ground without hesitation, "Then begone, Jack the Ripper!"

Both Servants flew at each other like human comets, readying their blades with the pure intention to kill their foe. However, right before either of them could scathe each other, Saber's pupils instantly shrank when she noticed from her peripheral vision a supersonic arrow whizzing away right at them. Shifting her stance at the last possible moment, Saber was about to dive for cover when a roar to her right resounded.

Using reinforced strength, Shirou blasted off the ground as he traced out the twin married swords, Kanshou and Bakuya, in hand. Swinging the blade down with all he had, Shirou squeezed in between Saber and Assassin as Kanshou made a direct impact with the flying arrow. The arrow immediately detonated upon impact, sending Shirou flying a couple meters back but with minimal damage.

Panting from the sudden exertion, Shirou was about to stand right back up when flying throwing knives barely pierced through his eyes. Leaping a couple meters back, Shirou readied his dual blades to see the anti-hero Servant, Jack the Ripper, has apparently taken an interest on him.

Three pairs of blades rocketed forward right at Shirou as Shirou hastily lift up both of his blades to protect himself from the coming onslaught. However, despite the impressive skills he possessed with the Chinese blades, two of the flying daggers nevertheless scathed his shoulder blades and cut his arm.

Holding back the grimace that made its way up to his throat, Shirou was beginning to wonder what is wrong with his body. Compare to the skills he had displayed before when against Rider back at the forest near the castle, he was much stronger and capable then. But now … it was quite the opposite.

Sidestepping to avoid an overarching blow from Assassin, Shirou swiftly counterattacked by attempting to cut the girl's exposed stomach. As expected, Jack the Ripper leaped backward to avoid the blow as she renewed her vigor in killing Shirou.

Smashing against Shirou's defense with increasing power, Shirou was able to disengage and put some distance between them when Saber of Red intervene as she rocketed toward Assassin with Mana Burst. Red lightning in the form of mana poured out of her sword when Saber blasted her blade right at Assassin without reserve. Assassin immediately widened her eyes at the near collision when she immediately retreated back for cover.

"You aren't go'in anywhere you pest!" Saber roared with a crazed grin when she once again rocketed forward for Assassin who was beginning to once again summon back the obscuring fog around the courtyard.

However, their battle was quickly interrupted when another supersonic arrow followed by two more shot through the night air, hindering both of the Servants' advancement to avoid getting detonated into many mangled pieces.

"Shirou, are you okay?" Jeanne shouted as she ran for Shirou. "What were you thinking?!"

Shirou was too deep in thought to reply to Jeanne's heartfelt concern. Everything was rapidly going downhill, and incredibly fast. At this rate, either Saber will come out triumphant before attacking the hiding Archer or both of the Servants before him would be dead. While Shirou could generally accept the inevitable outcome of Servants dying, the fact that the enemy Servant before him is none other than just a child who had a really messed up childhood to be coined the title, Jack the Ripper, didn't sit well with Shirou at all.

However, with his current weakened state, Shirou had absolutely no idea how to resolve this dire predicament. Shirou turned his gaze back at the intense battlefield while Saber, Archer, and Assassin continued to exchange strategical blows. What could he do in a fight between legendary Servants …

" _ **Use me,"**_ a voice suddenly resonated in Shirou's head.

"What?" Shirou couldn't help but voice his confusion in the midst of a serious issue.

Jeanne looked at Shirou oddly, probably thinking that Shirou did not hear her question properly earlier.

" _ **Use me you stupid brat,"**_ came the voice once more as Shirou began to feel more and more pent up stress in his head.

"What are you talking about?" Shirou questioned, his voice just above a whisper.

" _ **You want to save your ideals, boy?"**_ the voice seemingly snicker sardonically. _**"Then release me."**_

Shirou still couldn't understand what was going on. But one thing is for sure, he was talking to none other than Angra Mainyu, also known as All the Sins of the World.

"No," Shirou said adamantly, "I will not release you," Shirou's eyes hardened as he continued to see the battle play out. Knowing from the short conversations he had with Angra Mainyu, Shirou understood that enlisting the entity's help would be equivalent to having his wish come true through the means of destruction. Shirou wanted to save all of the people present, however, if destruction is a force that needs to be enacted, then Shirou did not want to play in having a role in using pure force to save others. And who knew what the detrimental results that would be if he did do so.

" _ **Tch,"**_ the voice "clicked" his tongue in disdain. _**"You can't save anything if this continues, brat."**_

Angra Mainyu was right. Shirou knew that much. And from the increasing pressure Shirou was having on his head, Shirou knew Angra Mainyu for some reason wanted to take part in the battle right now. Regardless of the entity's motives, Shirou knew doing nothing would cause the same if not worse fate to the people around him.

To win, to save others, Shirou knew he would have to control his own fate.

"I won't release you," Shirou replied but continued, "but … could you unveil your presence?" Shirou asked.

Shirou "felt" a surprised expression from the usually nonchalant and sarcastic entity.

Finally, after a couple seconds, Shirou could feel a response from Angra Mainyu. _**"Your wish, boy,"**_ the voice said uncaringly.

Nodding, Shirou released the pent up pressure on his head as a wave a dark mana blasted throughout the entire city. The atmosphere turned from mere bloodlust to pure evil beyond man's wildest imaginations. Everyone halted their battle at the unexpected potency of danger that alarmed all the people's keen instincts.

"S-Shirou?" Jeanne croaked, fully understanding what she was witnessing.

Shirou slowly lifted himself up as intense waves of mana continued to pour out of him. The energy so potent with malice and a killing intent that even both Saber and Jack the Ripper were taken back by the unexpected scene. If one looked closely enough, even the famed serial murderer of England had fear in her eyes.

Saber's Master gawked at Shirou as his hand uncontrollably shook in fear. Staring at Shirou's form as blood red tattoos with complex patterns that seemed to be engraved onto his skin with lava glowed with a bloodthirsty aura, Saber's Master could only gulp at the sheer contrast to whom the red-headed boy was a couple minutes ago when the two parties just met. In more ways than one, one could arguably say that the man in front of him is no longer the person named Emiya Shirou.

Walking a pace forward, both Saber and Jack the Ripper involuntarily flinch at Shirou's movement. Perhaps their mental state may be mildly affected by Shirou's presence, their Servant bodies on the other hand, however, reacted more so to the sinister presence as if demanding absolute obedience.

Exhaling out as if he had finished a long meditation session, Shirou then reopened his closed eyes with a heart of steel.

Opening his mouth, Shirou uttered the words that spelled out his complete identity, lifestyle, and ideals.

" _ **I am the bone of my sword."**_

The words reverberated through the courtyard like unending strings of curses that promised immediate death. And like a comet, Shirou blasted forward with unfathomable speeds and into the battlefield with two dual Chinese blades in hand, ready to put an end to the battle.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **As promised, today marks as the beginning of the weekly updates! All together (including this update), you should expect** _ **at least**_ **four updates during the one month period. To make things both more interesting and entertaining, I would be conducting a POLL to allow readers to choose which story update they would like to have after next week's update. Remember, the poll is at the top of my profile page. Of course, if you guys could leave a review for this chapter or story in general, that would both great and helpful! Thank you for your patience! – SteelBlades333**

 **Next week's update: Blades of Fate – coming out this weekend … hopefully. If not, definitely on Monday.**


	6. Battle in the Night Part 2

_**Chapter 5 – Battle in the Night Part 2**_

Shirou's body, now covered entirely with unknown tattoos, glowed a sinister red as the energy emanated across the battlefield. Immediately upon Angra Mainyu's presence partially manifesting itself onto Shirou's body, all Shirou could instantly register was sheer pain in its rawest form. His Magic Circuits thrummed out of control, his nerves burned senselessly, and his head pounded with the ceaseless curse of " **DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!** ".

Despite all the tremendous pain inflicted on him, Shirou could finally begin to feel his senses becoming clearer and honed in at the obstacle before him. Even though Shirou was sure he was controlling the release of the evil deity's power, Shirou slightly frowned when he was able to feel the entity's supply of mana seeping through his body and giving him power he did not possess before. Regardless of the cause behind this phenomenon, Shirou didn't have the time to ponder the technicalities of it when the Assassin Servant's "innocent" gaze met his.

Shirou didn't need to think twice on what he's going to do. The goal was already set clear since before he accepted Angra Mainyu's help – and that is to save everybody present in the battlefield. Perhaps what he hoped to achieve right now is built upon the foundation of naivete, however, Shirou didn't care about the consequences and outcomes of his plan. He saw a confused child and a war built upon dysfunction. And Shirou was going to do everything he can to make sure everybody makes it out alive in this bloody battlefield no matter the cost on his behalf.

Opening his eyes as Shirou exhaled slowly while ignoring the nagging pain stabbing through his body, Shirou steeled his resolve as he surveyed the hellish scenery where everything shouted malicious evil and the collective fear of mankind.

Parting his lips, Shirou uttered the words to the mantra of his inner Reality Marble.

" _ **I am the bone of my sword."**_

A surge of mana gushed out of Shirou as his words acted as the catalyst of endless curses proclaiming death's unforeseen arrival. No longer was Shirou considered a mere man. He was now the reincarnation of man's evil since the beginning of time.

Upon the uttered phrase, Shirou pumped mana into his legs as he blasted off the ground with inhuman force, flying at his target within a split second. Jack the Ripper widened her eyes – and for once in a long time – in quaking fear as she witnessed Shirou descending upon her in a blur. However, right before she could properly react by grabbing for her dagger, Shirou whizzed past the little girl Assassin as he traced out a familiar black blade in his right hand, throwing it instantly afterward in a forty-five degree angle straight ahead with unfathomable speeds.

The results were instantaneous when the blade blew up with a cacophony of explosions once it impacted a midflight airborne arrow charging straight at the defenseless and confused enemy Assassin.

Jack looked at the red-haired man in front of her with complete confusion and perhaps a tinge of curiosity. Did he … just protect her? Jack, as young and twisted as she is, shook the absurd thought away. No one cared for her. The only person who has and is allowed to care for her was her mother … and none other than her dear Master. And to disappoint her mother … to Jack, it was tantamount to ceasing to exist itself.

Grasping her dagger's hilt, Jack lashed out at the unknown yet dangerous man before her in a blink of an eye. Shirou, sensing impending danger before it hit, whirled around instantly to see a blurring flash striking for his side. Shirou, without taking the time to think, sidestepped the incoming blow and attempted to knock the blade away with a fully traced out Bakuya and Kanshou.

Jack, not relenting her persistent assault, lashed out with renewed vigor when she knelt down like a viper and leaped straight at Shirou's undefended backside. Shirou's eyes widened at the neck-breaking stunt when he managed to dodge against the lightning speed attack. However, despite Shirou's inhuman reaction speed, he didn't come out unscathed by the Assassin Class Servant's blow when a steady trickling line of blood oozed out of his wound given from the potent dagger.

If Shirou had not already been in the pain he was already in due to the countless curses bestowed upon him by Angra Mainyu, Shirou was sure he would have at least grimaced at the relatively deep wound marking his back.

Shirou, however, didn't dwell on those thoughts for any longer when another blow came from under him, aiming right for his ankles. Shirou promptly leaped over the flying danger when three projectiles shot out from the foggy darkness, effectively cutting his wrist and shoulder with minor lacerations when Shirou was unable to dodge effectively midair.

Prepared to parry a blow that he was sure to come, Shirou witnessed an unexpected sight of child Servant charging straight at him once again with raw and untamed emotions. Not with the expected emotion of the malicious intent to kill, but instead, Shirou witnessed true fear and denial on the girl's face. This girl was not the first-rate Assassin Shirou thought he knew any longer, instead, this girl – the summoned personification of Jack the Ripper – is a simple, lost, and confused child in distress.

Shirou easily parried the first blow coming down right on his head, but was unable to block a kick to his stomach by the frantic girl who is becoming more reckless every second. Shirou bit his lips as he held back a curse at his dire predicament. Despite possessing the aura of Angra Mainyu, Shirou's physical capabilities were still nevertheless inferior to that of a standard Servant.

While he is capable of fending himself from a Servant for a time, by no means did Shirou – under normal circumstances – is able to defeat a Servant. The only thing Shirou had in his arsenal capable of such an act is his Reality Marble, the ultimate weapon that is personal to him – namely Unlimited Blade Works. It was a reality that materializes his very soul and erodes onto the real world. It is a realm that is able to produce infinite swords limited to mankind's imaginations.

However, despite possessing such latent potential power, Shirou's magical reserves are typically unable to use – let alone summon – weapons from his Reality Marble. Shirou was a third-rate magus at best, and if not for his Reality Marble, Shirou was sure he would be labeled as one of the most inept magus ever recorded in history.

While Angra Mainyu's influencing presence on his body is further supporting Shirou's magical and physical strength, Shirou is nevertheless unable to fend off the near hysterical Servant before him.

Right slash, downward cut, straight forward jab, Shirou eyed Jack the Ripper's dancing blades carefully as he made the proper countermove against each lethal attack. However, how long could he draw this fight on for? Shirou, being fundamentally a flawed magus, knew he was never suited for drawn-out fights. The longer he is out fighting, the faster he loses energy and is thus more unable to summon any Noble Phantasms to aid his battle.

Shirou grimaced when a lace of pain hit him when he, for a split second, lost hold of his concentration to maintain the roaring evil presence of Angra Mainyu. That moment of distraction cost Shirou when Jack immediately lung forward and aimed for Shirou's head.

Shirou could dimly hear Jeanne yelling something, but Shirou was too engrossed in the life-threatening battle to clearly make out what the Ruler Servant was saying. Swiftly switching Bakuya in a backhanded position, Shirou swung with all his might as his blade met Jack the Ripper's jagged dagger with a resounding clang.

Like miniature fireworks, both forces pushed against each other with lightning speed and astounding strength. Gritting his teeth as Shirou continued to bear the roaring pain, Shirou began to notice something within the little girl Assassin's eyes that he didn't realize earlier.

Instead of the usual malice, bloodthirsty, and deranged look in the child's eyes, the little girl was now completely devoid of those emotions. What replaced was sheer terror, unsettling panic, and lingering dread within her dilating pupils.

With each hit that managed to scathe Shirou's scarred skin, the girl would involuntary flinch as if suffering from a split-second panic attack. Every hit that cut Shirou, her moves would once again resume being sloppy, allowing Shirou to have the momentary upper hand.

However, even with this "advantage", Shirou was having a difficult time himself coping with the new found "power". Trying to stand up and fight while carrying the burden of "All the World's Evil" in a controlled quantity was far from easy and sent Shirou's body and mind constantly into overdrive as pain lanced through the entirety of his being.

Another hit lightly impacted Shirou as Jack the Ripper, once more, widened her eyes with renewed fear.

"No," the girl whimpered as her blade thrust forward recklessly. If Shirou was anything like a Servant, right now Shirou would have been able to swiftly deal the final blow to the completely distracted Assassin due to her unknown inner turmoil. "No, no, no, NO, NO, NONONONONONONO!" Jack shouted louder and louder like a magical chant as she made a suicidal leap for Shirou's abdomen.

Memories flashed through Jack the Ripper's eyes like water gushing from a geyser. Shirou's tattoos glowed once more at Jack's momentary contact when the sin of rejection, pain, denial, and murder seared itself onto Jack's twisted and broken mind.

Beyond memories, humanity's collective sin from past to future entered Jack the Ripper's mind all at once. Jack gave an agonizing howl as her jagged blade clattered audibly on the ground. Holding her head tightly with a vice grip as if she was suffering from a severe migraine, Jack softly sobbed while kneeling down on the cobblestone street.

"Argh," the girl Assassin groaned as her whole body shook like a leaf.

Shirou glanced at the girl with a worried face. While Shirou understood that the Assassin Servant being unable to fight is a good thing since he is approaching his wit's end, Shirou nevertheless couldn't help himself but feel worried at the odd condition the Servant was currently in.

"Y-You—" Jack the Ripper spat out she tried to stand up with feeble legs. With tears gathering onto the corner of her eyes, the little girl gazed up at the horror before her who is none other than Shirou. "I-I don't w-want this," Jack choked between whimpers before her eyes glinted menacingly.

Faster than Shirou ever anticipated, mana began to resume gathering around the Servant in the form of a thick fog, instantly obscuring Shirou's vision within a second. Shirou's sense of smell once again assaulted him with far more power. Kneeling down in pain at the sensory overload, Shirou realized the grim truth behind the sudden massive concentration of mana unseen throughout the entirety of the battle.

Jack the Ripper was about to use her Noble Phantasm.

Shirou bit his lips in frustration. If he tries to save the child, he would more likely than not wind up dead. And as far Shirou could see it, he would need to kill the Servant to pave the way for his survival.

" _To save one is to kill another."_

A voice – a memory – flashed through Shirou's head like hot searing iron.

That's right … those were the words Archer spoke to him on that lonesome hill of blades. It was impossible to save all, his future self had told him. To reach and pursue his ideals was the height of hypocrisy, Archer had blatantly shouted at him. Everything he was and will be … is fake, the Counter Guardian had foretold.

Shirou gripped the projected married blades tightly in his hands. Is this how everything was going to end? Where Shirou ends up betraying his ideals by possibly killing a child or where he dies in the hands of a merciless killer he wanted to save? Is this his pitiful destiny that Archer had spoken about?

Shirou inwardly shook his head. Just as he promised himself, Saber, Tohsaka, Sakura, and Illya, he would be true to himself to the very end of his life.

No matter what the cost on his behalf, he is going to save the child Servant.

" _Angra Mainyu,"_ Shirou called out as he reached deep within his mind.

Time seemed to slow as Shirou reached for the mysterious entity within himself. The rolling fog seemed to slow and the descending throwing knife from above him seem to come to a crawling stop.

" _I need you to release some of your power,"_ Shirou requested. If right now Angra Mainyu was merely releasing his presence, then how much more capable would Shirou be able if he were to use some of the entity's strength?

Risky? Yes. However, Shirou was nevertheless willing to give the method a shot.

" _ **You sure?"**_ Angra Mainyu replied back with a carefree tone.

Shirou's emotions didn't waver at the question.

Sensing this, Angra Mainyu "nodded" in approval.

" _ **Very well,"**_ Angra Mainyu drawled, eliciting terror running through Shirou's spine when he felt the entity smile menacingly as power seemingly radiated from "All the Evil of the World". _**"I will be glad to fulfill your wi—"**_

Angra Mainyu wasn't able to complete his sentence – let alone release his power into Shirou's willing body – when a blade covered with lightning red mana blazed through the air between Shirou and the Assassin Servant.

What soon followed made Shirou widened his eyes in surprise when the blade swung upward and knocked Jack the Ripper's throwing knife away from her hand painfully.

Unperturbed by the pain, Jack was about to retaliate when a hulk of armor pushed the girl's body down to the ground with its reinforced foot. The blade then arced past the evening moonlight and pointed straight at Jack's undefended neck as the new Servant glared at Assassin, sending an unnerving gaze of dissatisfaction onto the defeated Servant.

"This ends now," the feminine yet raspy voice shouted as her blade edged closer to Jack the Ripper's throat.

"Saber … of Red?" Shirou uttered in confusion. How did she got here so fast?

"I should end you," Saber spat out as she gazed into Assassin's petrified and traumatized eyes.

"Don't, Saber!" Shirou shouted instinctively as he tried to stand up immediately.

"Now that I think about it," Saber's armored helmet rotated to meet Shirou in the eyes. "I should end you as well."

"Huh?"

"A third-rate magus wielding your power?" Saber spat out sarcastically at the ridiculous notion. "You—" Saber paused as she glared at Shirou. "You almost remind me of my mother."

Saber of Red's grip tightened more on the pommel of her massive double-edged sword.

"Wai—" Shirou shouted but was then interrupted when Saber suddenly whirled around in shock as she batted away an explosive arrow that shot toward the group.

The explosive arrow immediately erupted midflight when it smashed onto Saber's mighty blade.

"Tch," Saber spat out with annoyance as she quickly relented her hold on Assassin's body when she put her left foot behind her and leaped past Shirou while batting another barrage of arrows off its trajectory.

Deducing solely from where the arrow is shooting her at, Saber of Red swiftly turned to the right as she gazed upward to see the outlined figure of the unknown Archer of Black. Rushing toward the tall looming wall without hesitation, Saber of Red immediately used Mana Burst as her legs pumped full of mana and propelled up her in the air instantly upon the magical activation, making her easily soar above the city walls.

"Archer of Black!" Saber roared as she did a three-sixty turn and swung her blade of judgment right at the Servant.

* * *

Fione, sitting on her wheelchair, gazed far into the deadly silent on top of a high standing wall while being comfortably beside her Servant, Archer, who is surveilling the deceivingly quiet Trifas City.

"Archer?" Fione finally voiced out an unspoken question after a lapse of several minutes.

Archer shook her head while keeping his eyes straight on the city.

"I have not seen anything yet," Archer replied in a professional manner.

Fione nodded her head in understanding. One of the keys to victory in the Great Holy Grail War was patience. If anything, Fione knew she would be expected to wait for long intervals of time in order to see proper results.

"Wait," Archer suddenly spoke as his eyes glowed brighter, signifying him activating his Servant skill to improve his sight. "Ruler and the red-haired boy, Shirou, are approaching an alleyway."

"Huh?" Fione cocked her head sideways. Other than Ruler's presence, how is that information relevant?

A shocking boom that quaked the earth answered her question when the loud sound met her ears.

"They are being comprehended by Caster's golems," Archer further informed calmly. "Shall I assist them?"

Fione shook her head. "Ruler is powerful enough to protect herself and Shirou. We should not reveal our whereabouts yet."

Archer nodded his head in understanding at the command.

While Archer continued to watch the ongoing battle, Fione couldn't help but think … what was Shirou doing here beside Ruler? Did Ruler not say that Shirou is not a participant of the Holy Grail War and thus other Masters could not in any way harm or involve him in the war? Then … why is he here?

Fione shelved the question back to the corner of her brain. Now was not the time to ponder over such meaningless questions.

"Saber of Red is approaching," Archer suddenly broke Fione's train of thought.

"Is Master of Red with her?" Fione immediately asked.

Archer's pupils dilated for a split-second. "Yes, a man with three sets of command seals is with the Servant."

Fione nodded. It was soon time to act.

"Are the homunculi ready?" Fione reconfirmed.

Archer nodded. "Awaiting orders from you whenever you deem necessary."

"Good. Archer, once Saber of Red contacts Caster's golem, find an opportunity to defeat her."

Archer frowned at the thought. "Master, Ruler and Shirou have already activated the trap."

Fione, as if undisturbed by the thought, came up with a counter-strategy. "In that case—"

"Assassin is here," Archer warned with a low voice.

"Assassin?!" Fione loudly whispered in surprise. "Which faction?"

Archer lightly shook his head. "I do not have the ability to know who are my allies unless I meet them beforehand."

Fione, this time, frowned in thought. From what information she knew, Assassin of Black was missing ever since the Yggdmillennian mage entered Trifas City to find a proper method to use his catalyst for summoning a Servant. However, that man never returned.

"Is Assassin's Master there?"

"I don't think so," Archer replied. "Though the incoming fog may be hindering my sight."

If that's the case, Fione knew it would be safer for her to end both Saber and Assassin in one go. Furthermore, not only was the Yggdmillennian magus that was supposed to summon Assassin presumed dead, but also the fact that this Assassin is bound to be the source of the epidemic for the unexpected deaths in Trifas City made Fione make up her mind in killing both the Servants and obtain victory in the battlefield.

"Archer, fire at will," Fione commanded.

"Yes, Master," Archer softly smiled before the expression got replaced with the face of a stone cold warrior.

Drawing his bowstring back, Archer swiftly knocked an arrow onto it as he aimed at the fighting Servants with a hawk's eyes. Exhaling a quiet breath, Archer released the arrow at blurring speed as it the projectile whizzed true to its aim. What followed next, however, crumbled everything Fione and Archer had planned for the night when the sound of a shrilling blade met the arrow midflight, causing it to detonate with a cacophony of explosions.

Fione widened her eyes at the unexpected outcome. Did someone … anticipated their move? Fione quickly shook her head at the impossibility. No one save for the Black Faction should know anything remotely related to their midnight plan. However …

A sudden blast of visible miasmic mana rushed throughout the city, blanketing the entire city square with its cursed presence. Even without reinforcing her senses, Fione's brain blared hysterically with the premonition of danger at the source of unknown evil.

Despite being a magus who has been trained to walk alongside with death, Fione, for once in a long time, felt fear clenching her heart like it has never before. Fione quickly swallowed the lump making its way up her throat. What … was that presence?

"Archer?" Fione turned around to look at her Servant. Her voice just slightly above a whisper, and despite her best efforts, she was unable to conceal the worry and concern that was leaking out of her voice.

Archer didn't immediately reply Fione upon her call as he gazed with a grim expression at the battlefield below while it continued to intensify.

"What's going on, Archer?" Fione asked once more when the silence began to become unbearable.

Not leaving his stern gaze upon the battle scene, Archer finally gave a concrete answer. "Assassin and Shirou are fighting each other. Though …" Archer trailed off with an incomprehensible silence.

Fione knew her Servant's true identity. He was none other than the mentor of the legendary Greek Hero, Achilles! His wisdom and knowledge was among the best of all the Servants in the war. However, for a situation to leave her Servant without an explanation is not only stunning but also potentially very dangerous.

Fione didn't have much time to continuously ponder on her inner thoughts when Archer began to pull back yet another arrow.

"Archer?" Fione whispered almost uncertainly.

"Master, I will be eliminating them all now," Archer calmly informed as he squinted his eyes with fervent determination.

Fione was taken back for a split-second at the sheer intensity of her Servant. But … didn't he just said Shirou was there, and fighting no less?

"But Shirou!" Fione immediately spoke out with concern.

Archer, not relenting his sight for one moment, responded calmly. "He needs to be eliminated."

"Wait. Archer, no!" Fione immediately shouted with distress.

Archer was instantly distracted by his Master's shout. "Master, Shirou is the source of this abominated presence. We need to eliminate him at all cost!" Archer sternly clarified as he drew the bow string and arrow further back. "This presence," Archer continued grimly as he whispered quietly in the wind, "is far worse than Adrestia."

"ARCH—"

Fione was interrupted when a gale of wind blasted her face as Archer released the arrow at supersonic speeds. A sonic boom followed immediately afterward as the arrow whizzed straight for its intended target. What soon followed was vibrant light of explosions coming from the source of the previously brewing battlefield.

Fione couldn't contain the gasp that made its way out her throat at the display of brute force she has never seen the centaur practice. Yes, this is a war for the Holy Grail between mages and Servants … but this? Fione didn't know what to think and consider with this display of bloodshed.

Archer slowly lowered his bow as he creased his brows with a deep frown. Fione snapped her head away from Archer's direction and gazed into the foggy streets to see the aftermath. A blink of electric red from afar caught Fione's attention when that blink rapidly morphed into a blast of crimson lightning shooting their way.

Archer didn't wait for Fione's orders when he immediately lifted up his bow and shot out three arrows in succession with professional ease.

However, despite the expertise and accuracy behind the shots, the incoming Saber Servant easily deflected and dodged the shots as the armor cladded knight continued to rush in their direction undeterred.

Archer peered seriously through the night with mild concern. "It looks like I won't come out of this battle unharmed," Archer stated a matter-of-factly as he rid away his weapon back to particles of mana and held himself with a hand-to-hand combative stance.

Fione didn't have to ask twice on what Archer was going to do. Even if what Archer had done earlier had shocked her to the core, Fione nevertheless knew that what Archer had perceived is most definitely a threat. While she does harbor doubts of her Servant's doings, now was not the time to inquire of them. She will need to do her part in eliminating Saber's Master just as they have planned earlier in the night. Afterward, Fione will properly talk to the centaur and fully understand everything behind his unauthorized moves.

With that, Fione's legs of machinery which hooked tightly on her back whirled to life as she jumped off the towering wall and into the moonlit night.

* * *

"Shirou!" a voice shouted to Shirou's left as the miasmic presence that Angra Mainyu infused into him still permeated across the battlefield atmosphere.

Shirou numbly turned around to see an extremely worried and cautious Jeanne moving his way.

Shirou gave an upbeat smile in spite of all the pain he's inflicted with at the moment. However, in spite of his best efforts, Jeanne could easily see through the blatant façade.

"I'm fine …" Shirou waved off Jeanne's concern as he made his way over to the fallen Assassin before stumbling unstably midway, consequently eliciting a surprised and worried "gasp" from Jeanne.

"Maybe I'm not doing all good," Shirou chuckled despite his current predicament.

But even though his physical body screamed for him to stop and succumb to the temptation of sweet sleep, Shirou nevertheless continued to press on forward, not yielding to his physical needs. What right now needs to be done is far more pressing. It was why he entered this bloody battlefield between Masters and Servants again. Because, it was for the purpose to save all.

Approaching the figure sprawled shamelessly on the ground, Shirou knelt down onto the floor beside her. Aside from the fact that Shirou wanted to get to eye-level distance with the girl, but also the fact that his body is at the brink of collapsing is another reason why he favored his current kneeling position.

The girl's hazy eyes cleared for a split-second as it immediately portrayed the fear and horror she felt for Shirou.

"Get away from us!" Assassin snarled as she tried to take her dagger out while scrambling away from the unknown threat known as Shirou.

Shirou didn't bother to stop the little girl's frantic retreat. "If you want," Shirou began as he stood up as steadily as he could, "let me help you up," Shirou finished with a small fleeting smile.

"Y-You killed us!" Jack shouted as a hint of malicious intent resurfaced up her face, overcoming the temporary fear the bound her so tightly.

Shirou shook his head solemnly. "I'm not here to kill you," Shirou began. "I'm here to save you."

"No," Jack the Ripper shook her head profusely as she moved further away from the abominated form of Shirou as miasmic mana continued to emanate from him lightly. "No, no, no, NO, NO, NONONONONONO!" Jack shouted at the top of her lungs like an insane madman.

"We will not be saved by YOU!" Jack the Ripper ended as she fled the battle scene without another word as she made a hasty retreat, leaving Shirou by himself in the cold foggy night of Trifas City.

As soon as Jack the Ripper left, consequently, the otherworldly force that kept Shirou powered through the battle effectively vanished upon Angra Mainyu "successfully" fulfilling Shirou's spoken wish.

Shirou gazed off in the distant where the little Assassin girl fled off to.

"Ah, I messed up, huh," Shirou murmured to himself with slight remorse. However, despite his shortcomings, Shirou was also a man who is never willing to give up regardless of the odds. He was a man who continuously forges his own destiny that leads ultimately to his ideals.

Upon the dissipation of "All the Sins of the World", Jeanne instantly came by Shirou's side and supported him by his shoulder. Shirou, with hazy eyes, looked down at his previously pain-racked body to see no visible injuries on him. While the pain felt like the flames of hell were licking his flesh with volcanic heat, Shirou couldn't see the aftermath of the force inflicted on his body. Was this how Angra Mainyu felt on a constant basis? If so, nobody should feel that horror. Not even Angra Mainyu, regardless of his crimes, deserves such a horrible eternal fate.

Turning his head back up to meet Jeanne's concern face, Shirou softly smiled in her direction with reassurance. No doubt, the Ruler Servant is bound to have a lot of questions for him. And much to his chagrin, Shirou knew he wouldn't be able to answer most of them unfortunately. He needed someone with Tohsaka's caliber of knowledge to take on the full brunt of Jeanne's … or anyone else's questions regarding the events that transpired today.

Shirou didn't have time for his self-musing when screeching metallic joints creaked in the air noisily. The sound of brick crumbling on the side of the building's walls soon followed as the noise continued to approach their direction.

Jeanne instantly turned her head around at the potential source of threat while holding Shirou's shoulder protectively.

The looming figure emerged out of the dimly lit alley as the girl hung between two brick buildings, using four extended metallic arms to support her midair position. With the four extra appendages, the girl looked in every way like a spider … a handicapped spider.

But, even with blurred vision, Shirou nevertheless was able to fully make out the figure before him.

"Fione?" Shirou uttered with a croak, inevitably making him realize that he was severely dehydrated after the battle.

Fione ignored Shirou and Ruler's presence as she stared at the only person of interest in the courtyard.

"Master of Red," Fione shouted in the night.

The dark browned hair man veered his eyes up as he gazed at Fione without a trace of amusement. No longer did he carried himself in a carefree manner. Now, the Master before them all is a hired tactician and warrior in the Holy Grail War.

"Now then," Master of Red began, "we haven't introduce ourselves, have we?" the man remarked.

"That's right. After all, there's no way we don't know each other's names," Fione responded in a deceivingly polite manner. "But can I still give you a warning?" Fione then directed a kind smile at the Master.

Master of Red sighed as he unconsciously reached for his coat inner pocket for some much needed cigarettes to calm his brain. "I have enough insanity for the night. So … keep it short?" the Master suggested as he stopped futilely looking for the pack of cigarettes.

"Retreat, Necromancer! All you see here is the territory of Yggdmillennia. I will overlook your behavior if you leave! But, if you are to ignore this warning, only death can be claimed as compensation for your insolence," Fione raised her voice as she uttered the warning. No longer did she carried herself with the façade of a kind person, now, she was a full-fledge participant of the Holy Grail War and the head of the Forvedge family. A magus who has made the choice to walk alongside death.

"Hoh?" the necromancer drawled with mild sarcasm. "And do you think I'll obey?"

"No," Fione replied with a smile that reminded Shirou of Tohsaka for a brief moment. "But by saying that first, it strengthens my resolve."

"I see," Master of Red paused then continued. "If only death can be claimed as compensation for my insolence, are you sure death is by your side?"

"Do not play around, Necromancer!" Fione raised her voice in a diplomatic manner. Now was a time of battle, and she was not going to be dragged down by the Necromancer's wiles and riddles.

"I'm not," the man shrugged. "You should know just as much as I do. The very manifestation of death itself is before your eyes. Now, are you sure you want to have a battle here?"

Fione widened her eyes at the implication. Unconsciously, her eyes focused immediately onto the kneeling form of Shirou behind the Master of Red. And beside the exhausted red-headed figure was without a doubt the Servant Ruler, Jeanne d'Arc. The pieces to the intangible puzzle behind what the Necromancer spoke quickly clicked in Fione's mind.

"You don't mea—"

Fione was interrupted when a piece of paper flew pass her face as it continued to drift in the midnight breeze. Fione's mouth gape when the sound of gunfire resounded at the precise moment the paper passed by her. The four appendages immediately reacted at Fione's surprise when the limbs loosened their hold on the brick building walls, effectively dropping Fione down toward the ground.

"Jupiter, protection!" Fione commanded as the thumb-like projectiles whizzed at her with blurring speeds.

A cacophony of explosions soon followed when the four armed appendages deflected the unorthodox bullets in the air.

"Shall we continue?" the Master of Red asked once Fione landed in a hazardous heap, clearly slightly injured from the surprise attack.

Fione swallowed down the sudden rush of fear and adrenaline as she stared into the eyes of the necromancer.

"Mars," Fione whispered, "… shoot."

Thus, the battle between the Masters of the two factions of Black and Red began in the midnight courtyard of Trifas City.

* * *

A shadowy figure zoomed past the open window sill as the blood red curtains to the room swayed at the sudden rush of wind. The sole inhabitant of the small inn immediately whirled around as she stopped whatever she was doing earlier.

"Jackie?" Reika, the Master of Assassin, whispered in question, being unable to see past the Presence Concealment Jack the Ripper possessed.

"Mommy," a timid voice whimpered as the figure revealed herself in front of Reika, slightly bloodied and bruised from the previous battle.

Reika frowned with concern at the sight. While these injuries are considered minor for Servants, for Jack the Ripper, it might as well be fatal considering she is unable to extract mana from her Master, Reika, who is not a trained magus but instead a lowly prostitute.

"Let me help with those wounds first, okay?" Reika spoke gently as she hurried for the medical cabinet in the small and simple inn.

Jack the Ripper nodded her head quietly.

Reika didn't need to be a genius to figure out something terribly wrong has happened to her "daughter". She was the girl's mother, and thus knew with certainty that a wound like this would not deter her daughter's advances in surviving the war, protecting her, and ultimately acquiring the Grail. However, to see the famed Jack the Ripper so utterly defeated mentally instead of physically must meant an extremely traumatic experience was inflicted upon her. Something far worse than the horrors Jack the Ripper has experienced through multiple different lives.

Reika came back to Jack's side in less than half a minute and swiftly began dressing the girl's wound. Jack the Ripper, being the infamous killer she is, didn't even flinch at the stinging contact while her mother tenderly cared for her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Reika cooed soothingly. A mother's voice which Jack has been longing for her entire lifetime only to obtain after she's "dead".

Jack peered timidly into Reika's eyes as if searching for some existing comfort within it.

"Remember, I love you no matter what, okay?" Reika reassured her daughter.

Jack nodded slowly at the words. No matter how down she was, those words always sent a flicker of warmth through her cold and twisted heart.

"H-Hurt," Jack whimpered almost inaudibly.

"Mmhmm," Reika nodded as she hugged Jack tightly while patting her head soothingly, motioning for the girl to continue.

"P-Pain. Reject. Murder. Hate. … And death," Jack added.

"And what happened?" Reika murmured.

"I …" Jack swallowed as her body shook with unknown terror. "I … met daddy."

* * *

Caules Forvedge Yggdmillennia sprinted across the crisscrossing and dimly lit alleys of Trifas City. He knew of his sister's plans to intercept the Masters of Red, and if possible, defeat the potentially strongest opponent of them all, Saber of Red. However, everything changed when a blast of miasmic and wicked presence permeated throughout the entire city. And Caules was not dumb enough to turn a blind eye at such an unthought predicament.

Something very bad must have happened, and his sister is bound to have been wrapped around its entire ordeal.

"Squad one, there," Caules whispered as he stretched his hand over to the left side. "Two, to the right."

Both of the homunculi squads which Caules had by his side today obeyed his command without a question.

If the wicked presence is from a Servant just like Caules hypothesized, he is going to need much more manpower than what he has now. In fact, with the miniature trained army like he has now, Caules highly doubt he could even buy time for his sister and himself to escape if things got out of hand fast.

However, Caules is nevertheless willing to grab on to that string of hope that everything will work out and his sister will live through the whole midnight battle.

"Almost there," Caules whispered as the sound of bullets and ringing metal resounded the city courtyard. By now, the lurking evil presence has long since faded. However, Caules still felt extremely uneasy within the city area. Was it a Bounded Field? Caules shook his head, such a Bounded Field would serve little purpose in battle. Furthermore, if there was one, he or the group of homunculi should have been able to spot it upon their entrance to the city.

Finally, just two more blocks, Caules is going to arrive at the battle scene. And he was by no means going to hold back. If anything, holding back his attack at this point is bound to spell certain death for him.

"Ready your positions," Caules commanded the group of male and female homunculi as they readied their makeshift magical spears, swords, axes, and bows with arrows.

"And—" Caules raised his voice in preparation of stating the order of attack when a voice broke though the cold humid night.

"What are you doing?" a childish and youthful voice spoke in the dark.

"Who is it!" Caules hissed, immediately anticipating an ambush just like the other homunculi did when they readied their weapons in a combative stance toward the voice's direction.

Caules widened his eyes when the figure emerged out from the dark alleyway and under a shining street lamp.

"It's you!" Caules loudly whispered almost accusingly. "What are you doing here?"

The said person looked at Caules with an emotionless face. "Are you going to hurt Jeanne and Shirou?" the boy continued to ask, not sensing the potential danger he was in.

"What? No!" Caules defended himself. "Ruler made it clear we can't involve him in the war," Caules argued hurriedly, knowing that he should enter into the raging battlefield before everything is too late. However, right now, the boy homunculus in front of him held the key to their successful surprise attack.

"They're here," the boy continued. "And you are using my family to kill them," the child homunculus stated a matter-of-factly.

"We are not going to kill them," Caules stated firmly. "We can't lest we are kicked out of the war."

"Then why are the homunculi here?"

"There's something big out there that needs to be eliminated."

"Who?"

Caules gritted his teeth as his anxiety continued to rise. "Not right now, homunculus!" Caules spat out. There was a life on the line, and that person was his sister.

"Move out," Caules whispered an order to the two groups of homunculi.

"Are you going to use them as disposable tools?" the boy suddenly asked through the gust of wind as it passed by.

Caules froze his tracks before continuing, not paying any heed to the child homunculus.

Caules knew a homunculus's sole purpose is to serve its master in any way possible. These artificially manufactured "humans" were in every way a useful as well as disposable tools for mages – at least that was the principles he was taught by since childhood.

"I won't let you," the same childish voice spoke, although Caules couldn't help but turn around in surprise at the maturity that same voice held.

"By my name Yuuki, I will not let you kill the homunculi … my family!"

* * *

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Sorry for the late update. Originally, this was supposed to come out at the latest on Tuesday, however, recently I have not been feeling physically well and thus had to delay the update by a few days as my writing pace slowed. Because of this unexpected issue, it has also consequently put a dent in my plan to publish four chapters (not including the "extra" chapter for** _ **Fate Blade Zero**_ **) during the winter break. Of course, I'll still try my best in publishing the last chapter. However, please do understand that the university spring semester starts in two days and thus I will be incredibly busy.**

 **All this which ultimately leads to the very sad news that unlike last semester, I will not be updating on a monthly basis for this semester. The reason why is simply because I am taking more credits this semester than that during the fall. Of course, if I manage to squeeze in some free time amongst all the piling workload, I will be more than happy to write … but I find that optimism quite unrealistic. In short, until May comes around, don't expect to see an update. However, be rest assured that WEEKLY updates will resume when the spring semester ends.**

 **Next, some common FAQs for last chapter. Number 1, what happened to Mordred's Secret of Pedigree Noble Phantasm? I admit this is my mistake. For those that are not as well versed in Fate/Apocrypha, Mordred helmet, namely the Secret of Pedigree, makes it impossible for anybody to identify her true identity as well as her Noble Phantasm. So … in short, Shirou's tracing won't work on her if Mordred has her helmet on. If anything, the information Shirou would receive would perhaps resemble something like a mental static.**

 **Number 2, isn't Angra Mainyu supposed to be weak? The answer, yes. Angra Mainyu is supposed to and is still weak. Just because Angra Mainyu has an overwhelming presence of evil does not immediately mean he is all powerful. Yes, Angra Mainyu has a degree of power, allowing Shirou to pull some stunts that are slightly beyond him. Otherwise, in terms of overall abilities, Shirou is still pretty weak which will become more and more evident in later chapters.**

 **Hopefully, during the semester and whatever little time I have, I will be able to edit and polish up the previous chapter to make sure everything is accurate. But regardless of last chapter's inaccuracy, it won't deter the story's direction since everything falls into place within a chapter or two.**

 **And for those who are wondering what Chiron (Archer) meant by the name Adrestia, Adrestia is in Greek mythology the god of evil. So … there you go!**

 **Once again, thank you for reading and I will return writing on May!** **– SteelBlades333**


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